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Int'l Business Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
'Things Will Improve': Bolivians Look Forward To Right's Return
Bolivians on Monday began looking to a future without the ruling socialists of the past two decades, after the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections were won by a resurgent right. The Movement towards Socialism (MAS), in power since iconic leader Evo Morales was elected to the presidency in 2005, suffered a cataclysmic defeat in Sunday's elections over its handling of a severe economic crisis. The party's presidential candidate Eduardo del Castillo garnered just 3.1 percent of the vote in the South American nation. MAS also lost nearly all its Congress seats to the opposition, led by centre-right senator Rodrigo Paz and right-wing ex-president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, who snagged the two places in October's presidential run-off. Franz Yupangui, a 49-year-old lecturer in sustainable engineering, said he hoped the right-ward shift would end the worst shortages of fuel and dollars -- the currency in which Bolivians save -- that he could recall since the 1980s. "I think that now, given we are going to change to another type of politics, things will improve," he told AFP at a fruit and vegetable market in central La Paz. Clara Rodriguez, a 54-year-old fruitseller whose business has been hit by rising fuel and food prices, also welcomed the dramatic changes to the political landscape. "In our country we've lacked many things, and for people with very limited resources, things have been very bad. So I think with this change we're going to move forward," she said as she packed sweet cherimoyas, a fruit native to the Andes, for a customer. Like many Bolivians, she also voiced relief at the peaceful nature of the election, which contrasted with the violence that erupted in 2019 after Morales claimed victory in polls marked by fraud allegations. Fears that supporters of Morales, who attempted to stand for an unconstitutional fourth term this year but was barred from running, could wreak havoc came to naught. "Evistos," as his loyal Indigenous and rural followers are known, instead expressed their frustrations at the ballot box. Nearly one in five voters -- an historic 19.38 percent -- answered his call to spoil their ballots. Paz was the surprise winner of the first round, with 32.14 percent of the vote, ahead of Quiroga on 26.81 percent. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped to finish first, trailed in third. In an interview Monday with Bolivia's El Deber daily, Paz, who campaigned as a moderate, attributed his success to a nationwide listening tour. "I've been traveling for four years now; I didn't come three months before (the election) on a private plane, land on a runway, and give speeches," he said, in an apparent dig at Doria Medina and Quiroga, dismissed by many voters as the candidates of big business. Both Paz, son of former president Jaime Paz (1989-1993), and Quiroga, who served a year as president in the early 2000s, launched their second-round campaigns Monday with calls for unity. The two candidates' programmes converge on some points, such as eliminating fuel subsidies, lowering taxes and breaking with MAS's big-state economic model. "We must turn the page and begin building a new Bolivia," Quiroga said. Rodrigo Paz (L) and Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, two members of Bolivia's resurgent right, will face each other in the country's October 2025 presidential run-off AFP
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Bolivia elections 2025: Right-wing resurgence amid economic turmoil
LA PAZ: Bolivians head to the polls on Sunday in elections overshadowed by a severe economic crisis. The country faces its worst financial turmoil in decades, with inflation nearing 25 percent and shortages of fuel and foreign currency. Polls indicate a sharp decline in support for the ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS), in power since 2005. Centre-right businessman Samuel Doria Medina and former president Jorge Quiroga lead the race, each polling around 20 percent. A runoff will be held on 19 October if no candidate secures a majority. Both frontrunners promise to overhaul Bolivia's state-driven economic policies. Doria Medina and Quiroga aim to cut public spending, attract foreign investment, and rebuild ties with the US. Marcela Sirpa, a longtime MAS voter, has shifted her support to Quiroga, citing disappointment with the ruling party. Analysts compare Bolivia's political shift to Argentina's 2023 election, where voters rejected leftist rule for change. Political scientist Daniela Osorio Michel notes voters now prioritise stability over ideology. Doria Medina, a cement magnate, pledges to curb inflation and stabilise essentials within 100 days. Quiroga, a former president, vows sweeping reforms after what he calls '20 lost years.' Bolivia's economic boom under Evo Morales has faded due to falling gas revenues and poor investment. The country's lithium potential remains untapped, worsening the foreign exchange crisis. Protests over soaring prices and fuel shortages have become frequent. Student Miguel Angel Miranda criticises the government for failing to diversify the economy. Morales, barred from running, urges supporters to spoil ballots in protest. Indigenous leader Matilde Choque Apaza backs his call, warning of unrest if demands are ignored. All legislative seats are also contested in Sunday's vote. - AFP
Int'l Business Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Bolivian Right Eyes Return In Elections Marked By Economic Crisis
Bolivians head to the polls Sunday for elections marked by a deep economic crisis that has seen the left implode and the right eyeing its first shot at power in 20 years. The Andean country is struggling through its worst crisis in a generation, marked by annual inflation of almost 25 percent and critical shortages of dollars and fuel. Polls show voters poised to punish the ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS), in power since 2005 when Evo Morales was elected Bolivia's first Indigenous president. Center-right business tycoon Samuel Doria Medina and right-wing ex-president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga are the favorites to succeed Morales's unpopular successor, Luis Arce, who is not seeking re-election. Polls showed Doria Medina, 66, and Quiroga, 65, neck-and-neck on around 20 percent, with six other candidates, including left-wing Senate president Andronico Rodriguez, trailing far behind. A run-off will take place on October 19 if no candidate wins an outright majority. The two frontrunners have vowed radical changes to Bolivia's big-state economic model if elected. They want to slash public spending, open the country to foreign investment and boost ties with the United States, which were downgraded under the combative Morales, a self-described anti-capitalist anti-imperialist. Marcela Sirpa, a 63-year Indigenous street seller who traditionally voted for MAS, has thrown her support behind Quiroga. "They (MAS) left us all in the gutter," she explained at a candidate's street party in La Paz. All seats in Bolivia's bicameral legislature are also up for election on Sunday. Analysts say the election resembles that of 2023 Argentina, where voters dumped the long-ruling leftist Peronists and elected libertarian candidate Javier Milei in a bid to end a deep crisis. "What people are looking for now, beyond a shift from left to right, is a return to stability," Daniela Osorio Michel, a Bolivian political scientist at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, told AFP. Unlike Milei, who was a political newcomer, Doria Medina and Quiroga are both on their fourth run for president. Doria Medina, a millionaire former planning minister, made a fortune in cement before going on to build Bolivia's biggest skyscraper and acquire the local Burger King franchise. Seen as a moderate, he has vowed to halt inflation and bring back fuel and dollars within 100 days, without cutting anti-poverty programs. The tough-talking Quiroga, who trained as an engineer in the United States, served as vice-president under reformed ex-dictator Hugo Banzer and then briefly as president when Banzer stepped down to fight cancer in 2001. "We will change everything, absolutely everything after 20 lost years," he trumpeted during his closing rally in La Paz on Wednesday. Bolivia enjoyed over a decade of strong growth and Indigenous upliftment under Morales, who nationalized the gas sector and ploughed the proceeds into social programs that halved extreme poverty. But underinvestment in exploration has caused gas revenues to implode, falling from a peak of $6.1 billion in 2013 to $1.6 billion last year. With the country's other major resource, lithium, still underground, the government has nearly run out of the foreign exchange needed to import fuel, wheat and other foodstuffs. Bolivians have repeatedly taken to the streets to protest rocketing prices and hours-long wait for fuel, bread and other basics. "In these past 20 years, we've had good income, but the government didn't invest in anything or propose new directions for... how to better expand our economy," 21-year-old student Miguel Angel Miranda said. Morales, who was barred from standing for a fourth term, has cast a long shadow over the campaign. The 65-year-old has called on his mostly rural Indigenous supporters to spoil their ballots over the refusal by electoral authorities to allow him run again. Matilde Choque Apaza, the pro-Morales leader of a rural and Indigenous women's association, backed his call for a "voto nulo." "We don't want to go back to the 20th century," she said, vowing that Bolivians, ever prone to revolt, "will rise up at any time." Bolivia's election is widely expected to see the ruling Socialists lose power for the first time in 20 years AFP Samuel Doria Medina (L) is a millionaire businessman while Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga is a conservative ex-president AFP The number of seats in Bolivia's legislative assembly before Sunday's vote AFP "Voto nulo": Evo Morales has called on his supporters to spoil their ballots AFP
Int'l Business Times
08-08-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Bolivia Right-wing Presidential Hopeful Vows 'Radical Change'
One of the front-runners in Bolivia's upcoming presidential election, right-winger Jorge Quiroga, told AFP on Friday the country was poised for "radical change" after two decades of socialist rule marked in recent years by a severe economic crisis. Quiroga, who briefly served as president from 2001 to 2002, is running a close second behind center-right business magnate Samuel Doria Medina in polls for the first round of the election on August 17. The ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS), founded by three-term ex-president Evo Morales, is shown at rock bottom, with voters poised to punish the party over its handling of the worst crisis in two decades. Basics like fuel and food items are in short supply in the Andean nation, which is running out of the dollars it needs to import essentials. After a rally with supporters in the administrative capital La Paz, Quiroga, 65, said Bolivians faced a period of "radical change (to) regain 20 lost years" -- a reference to the Morales era (2006-2019) and that of his successor, Luis Arce (in power since 2020). Referring to MAS, which was credited with lifting many Bolivians out of poverty during a commodities boom in the 2000s, he declared: "Its cycle is over, its time is up." Quiroga, Doria Medina and even the main left-wing candidate, Andronico Rodriguez, who is polling in third, have all prescribed varying degrees of austerity to turn around Bolivia's finances. Quiroga, a supporter of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, has advocated the deepest spending cuts. Year-on-year inflation rose to 25.8 percent in July, the highest level since 2008, driven by a shortage of dollars, which has nearly doubled in value against the local boliviano in a year. Quiroga, a US-educated former finance minister who served as vice president under dictator Hugo Banzer in the 1990s, said if elected he would "change all the laws" to attract investment, including in the energy sector, which Morales nationalized in the 2000s. He also vowed a change in international alliances, breaking from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua -- close allies of the Morales and Arce administrations. Quiroga was the youngest vice president in Bolivia's history when he was elected to the post in 1997 at the age of 37. He later served as president for one year after Banzer resigned in August 2001 due to cancer.
