Bolivia's government said on Wednesday it will temporarily suspend exports of food products including soy and beef amid protests in the key farming region of Santa Cruz.
The move is aimed at safeguarding food security in Bolivia, said the minister of Productive Development and Plural Economy, Nestor Huanca, adding that the export suspension will include soybean grain, soybean flour, soybean meal, sugar, oil and beef.
"This measure comes into effect from midnight on October 27, 2022 until normal supply conditions are restored to the entire Bolivian population," he told a media conference.
Leftist President Luis Arce has been facing protests across the country. Earlier on Wednesday, his government struck a deal with gold mining cooperatives to stop protests in the administrative capital La Paz.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos, Editing by Isabel Woodford and Richard Pullin)