New Delhi, June 10 -- Protesters in Bolivia demanding the resignation of conservative President Rodrigo Paz hurled firecrackers, stones and sticks at police who responded with tear gas on Monday, leading to dozens of arrests as road blockades continue to paralyze the Andean nation.

The renewed clashes in the central city of Cochabamba erupted after President Paz signed a measure that could pave the way for a hard-line government crackdown on the demonstrations that have roiled Bolivia over the past five weeks, disrupting transportation and causing shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies.

Bolivia's national workers' union, peasant farmers and Indigenous groups from the highlands - outraged over Paz's scrapping of fuel subsidies and ...