LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian lawmakers approved a $1.9 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund on Friday, delivering the conservative government a key victory in its efforts to ease the country's deep economic crisis as unions threatened renewed protests.
Just hours after Congress approved the loan, President Rodrigo Paz announced an immediate end to subsidies for the diesel powering Bolivia’s trucks, buses and tractors — a step toward meeting IMF demands. Gasoline, used mainly in private cars, would remain subsidized for now, though Paz had already scaled back that support in recent months.
The Senate ratified the IMF agreement a day after the lower house approved it, clearing the final legislative hurdle for the three-year financing program aimed at replenishing dwindling foreign reserves and stabilizing the ailing economy marked by high inflation and weak growth. The IMF first announced the staff-level agreement in July after months of negotiations with Paz’s market-friendly government, which took power last year after nearly two decades of socialist rule as part of a wave of new Latin American leaders allied with the Trump administration.
The program still requires approval from the IMF’s executive board before funds can be disbursed. Economy Minister Christian Morales told senators that the deal would give other lenders, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, greater confidence in the government and help it secure about $5 billion in additional financing.
But the assistance is conditioned on tough economic measures, including the elimination of fuel subsidies, that threaten to reignite unrest in Bolivia, where weeks of road blockades in June and July paralyzed much of the South American nation as demonstrators demanded Paz’s resignation. Congress on Thursday extended for another 90 days a state of emergency that Paz had declared to clear roads during the protests. It allows for military intervention and the suspension of some civil liberties.
The Bolivian Workers’ Central, the country’s main labor federation, and other unions have voiced fierce opposition to the IMF loan, warning that the government spending cuts required under the deal would drive up living costs and deepen hardship for struggling families.
Although Paz’s Christian Democratic Party lacks a majority in Congress, the centrist and right-wing lawmakers that dominate both chambers rallied behind the deal. The Movement Toward Socialism, the party that dominated Bolivian politics after the former coca growers’ union leader Evo Morales won the presidency in 2005, now holds just two of the 130 seats in the lower house and none in the 36-member Senate.
Declining natural gas exports have deprived Bolivia of dollars needed to import gasoline and diesel, contributing to chronic fuel shortages that began in 2023 and have persisted under Paz. The Iran war has pushed up global fuel costs, making fuel subsidies an even greater burden on public finances.
“No one can buy something expensive and sell it cheap,” Paz said in his late-night declaration that diesel in Bolivia would now be sold at international prices.
To cushion the blow, he announced about $79 million in cash assistance for 2.9 million Bolivians, along with loans on preferential terms for truckers, small businesses and producers facing higher diesel costs. He pledged to redirect subsidy spending toward schools, hospitals and roads.
He promised the change would end the country’s persistent diesel shortages, which have disrupted harvests and delayed deliveries of imported goods. “With this measure, we guarantee supplies 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said.
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Police escort teachers during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Teachers shout slogans during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A teacher holds an empty pot during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — The two women and one man found dead inside the home of the Krakow mass-shooting suspect were likely close members of his family, the Polish prime minister said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the discovery of the bodies late Saturday “the next acts of this tragedy."
Authorities haven't identified the attacker, but they have said he is a 25-year-old Polish man who has “ultranationalistic” views.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.
A Polish man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow on Saturday and opened fire, killing six people and injuring 15 others before police shot and wounded him, authorities said.
The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.
The 25-year-old attacker drove to multiple spots in the square and opened fire at each stop with an automatic weapon, authorities said. Although they didn’t release his name, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the man holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.
"Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.
Four women and two men were killed. At least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a U.K. citizen, authorities said at a news conference. Police were still trying to identify the other two people killed hours after the attack.
Two police officers were among the injured, including one whose injuries were serious, Kierwiński said. Also injured in the attack were five non-Poles, police commander Marek Boroń said.
Authorities said a total of 13 people were hospitalized in serious condition, though that figure may include the gunman, who underwent surgery after the attack.
It's unclear how many of the injured were shot. Two of them were treated and released within hours of the mass shooting.
The attacker wore military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest, and used a military-type long gun, Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said. Police found many other weapons and ammunition in his car. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.
The attacker engaged in a “wild ride” around Main Square, which is why people were wounded at several locations, Cisło said.
Cisło added that the gunman acted alone and that the public is safe.
Krakow mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city will be in official mourning until Wednesday. He vowed that Krakow will remain open to visitors despite the tragedy.
“The square will belong to us again,” Gibała said in a video posted to X.
Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse himself to the ground.
Photos showed a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter after it landed in the square.
It was not immediately clear whether the firearm used in Saturday’s attack, or the guns found in the perpetrator’s car, were legal. Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in a post on X, praised the police officers who responded to Saturday’s tragedy. President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, the wounded and their families.
A tram driver reported around 3 p.m. that his vehicle was shot at by a man in a moving car while passing nearby the main square, the Krakow municipal transport company said. The window to the tram driver’s cabin was shattered.
Animal rights group OTOZ Animals said the attacker also shot two horses. Both animals are alive, but one was grazed by a bullet and the other hit in the leg. White carriages drawn by horses are a main tourist attraction in the square.
Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced increased security measures, including road barriers, along main streets in the old town in the Polish capital in the aftermath of the Krakow attack.
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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland and Dazio reported from Berlin.
Armed police officers secure a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz speaks during a press conference after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Police cars are parked in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Police privacy screens are installed in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Police privacy screens are installed in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
An armed police officer secures a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Armed police officers secure a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
