Military and law enforcement have clashed with demonstrators led by predominantly Indigenous protesters amid an attempt to clear roadways leading into the Bolivian capital, La Paz, which had been blocked during nationwide anti-government marches.

As many as 3,500 soldiers and police were reported to have been deployed to the cusp of demonstrations as part of the government operation which commenced in the early hours of Saturday morning.

More than 50 demonstrators, predominantly Indigenous people, were arrested, according to the Bolivian citizens' rights ombudsman's office.

Most of the arrested protesters were Indigenous miners and unionists who helped organised the blockade of La Paz, which aimed to convey their outrage of the bullish economic policies from the government of the centre-right President, Rodrigo Paz.

The Bolivian government estimated 22 roadblocks had been erected across the South American state in protest this month following earlier demonstrations against the President.

Unions, including the Bolivian Workers Central authority, say there were closer to 70 roadblocks while adding they will continue to hold a general strike against the government which started two days before military and law enforcement faced demonstrators on the outskirts of La Paz.

"A general, indefinite, and active strike is declared until the government understands the people's demands," Bolivian Workers Central secretary-general Mario Argollo said.

Some protesters have demanded for Mr Paz's immediate resignation over an accumulation of matters, including alleged plans of recouping of Indigenous rural lands.

Indigenous movements have been mobilising against fears the next step could be the dissolution of Tierras Comunitarias de Origen (Native Community Lands) of collective Indigenous collective territories, which is supposedly communally held and cannot be broken up.

In recent times, Bolivia has also been in the grips of a continued economic crisis, considered close to its worst period in the impoverished nation's history for decades.

The government's foreign currency reserves have collapsed as Bolivia's exports have slowed to a crawl.

Additionally, vast reserves of fuel — which were discovered late in the 20th century on Indigenous Guarini lands — relied on by the country to power its economy as a major energy exporter have all but dried out.

Following nearly three decades of dwindling supplies amid mismanagement, Bolivia has been forced to import fuel from outside its own borders since 2022, further exacerbating the ongoing economic dilemma.

Many parts of the nation have been experiencing long lines for fuel as well as shortages of the most basic commodities including food, greatly affecting the livelihood of Indigenous communities on multiple fronts.

Mr Paz, who was elected in October of last year, had campaigned on alleviating economic stress of Bolivia's citizens.

However, since taking office the President has spurred outrage by ending a two-decade-old fuel subsidy and pushing to privatise state-owned companies.

Earlier this month, the protests forced the repeal of a land reform measures — Law 1720 — which critics claimed would dispossess small, rural landowners, the majority being Indigenous communal farmers, in favour of far larger and wealthier holdings.

"This law weakens the property rights of peasants and Indigenous communities - especially of those resisting on the agricultural frontier," Aymara tribe lawyer Roger Adan Chambi, an expert in Indigenous land law, said.

"Structural insecurity and the lack of basic services will, in the future, force them to mortgage or sell their plots, facilitating dispossession and the transfer of land to corporations."

Smaller subsistence farms have been the foundation of Indigenous and peasant life in rural Bolivia, providing not only food for communities, but cultivating the land in ways more ecologically enriching than large-scale farming which extensively uses pesticides.

Oscar Cardoza, a peasant union leader and a representative which attended recent marches, declared at the public gathering in La Paz a week earlier that the cultures of Quechua, Aymara, Guarani and any of the 33 smaller, recognised Indigenous tribes had a custodial right to traditional land plots.

"Our life is collective, not individual," he said.

"The land must be respected; it's not for sale."

The President's election had marked the end of nearly two decades of rule by the Movement for Socialism, a growing political authority which had been celebrated by Indigenous communities.

Mr Paz's office has since blamed the demonstrations for cutting off crucial supplies to key cities such as La Paz, which holds the seat of government.

Food prices have increased further since the blockades started and Mr Paz's government has claimed three people have died from clashes after being unable to reach hospitals for medical care.

According to Presidential spokesperson, Jose Luis Galvez, the crackdown on the protesters had been designed to create a "humanitarian corridor" to ensure the free flow of supplies to hospitals in La Paz.