The riot broke out when riot police, backed by military vehicles, used tear gas to clear a protest blockade of a road in the town of San Julián in the department of Santa Cruz.
The protesters threw stones and burned tires in an attempt to stop the police, according to an AFP reporter on the scene. Two police officers were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, according to regional police.
The South American country has been paralyzed by protests for several weeks, with demands that centrist President Rodrigo Paz resign.
Paz took office in November, promising to solve the country's worst economic crisis in decades. But he has failed to meet many residents' calls for wage increases, economic stability, and a halt to privatization.
