Latest news with #TutoQuiroga
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Bolivia heads to presidential runoff, pitting centrist candidate against right-wing
Bolivia's presidential vote headed to an unprecedented runoff after elections Sunday that ended more than two decades of left-wing dominance in the Andean nation but signalled voters' trepidation about a major lurch to the right. A dark horse centrist, Sen. Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, early results showed. Paz, a former mayor who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition's push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from a looming economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former president Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, who finished second. Bolivia holds the presidential runoff – its first since its 1982 return to democracy – on Oct. 19. 'This economic model must change,' Paz declared to crowds who cheered and chanted, 'Renewal!' Paz's campaign gained unexpected traction in recent weeks as he teamed up with Edman Lara, a social media savvy ex-police captain with evangelical backing whose supporters see him as a bold leader willing to stand up to corruption in the security forces. With over 91 per cent of the ballots counted Sunday, Paz received 32.8 per cent of the votes cast. Quiroga secured 26.4 per cent. Candidates needed to surpass 50 per cent, or 40 per cent with a 10-point margin of victory, to avoid a runoff. Addressing fans and flanked by family as confetti hearts sprayed from the ceiling, Quiroga congratulated Paz on his lead. 'What happened is unprecedented,' he said. 'Bolivia told the world that we want to live in a free nation.' The results delivered a stunning blow to Bolivia's hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, which has governed Bolivia almost uninterrupted since its founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. The official MAS candidate, Eduardo del Castillo, finished sixth with just 3.2 per cent of the vote. A leftist candidate considered to be the party's best hope, 36-year-old Senate president Andrónico Rodríguez, captured 8 per cent of the vote. During his almost 14 years in power, Morales expanded the rights of the country's Indigenous majority, defended coca growers against U.S.-backed eradication programs and poured natural gas profits into social programs. But the maverick leader's increasingly high-handed attempts to prolong his presidency – along with allegations of sexual relations with underage girls – soured public opinion against him. Simmering discontent turned into a tidal wave of outrage as Bolivia's once-stable economy imploded under Morales' protégé-turned-rival, President Luis Arce. Annual inflation rate has soared from 2 per cent less than two years ago to 25 per cent as of last month. A scarcity of fuel has paralyzed the country. A desperate shortage of U.S. dollars needed to pay for essential imports like wheat has crippled the economy. As the crisis accelerated, MAS leaders traded blame. A power struggle between Morales and Arce fractured the bloc and handed the opposition its first real shot at victory in decades even as its uncharismatic candidates failed to unite. In perhaps the most visible sign of how fed up Bolivians are with the party, leftist politicians casting their ballots across Bolivia on Sunday faced barrages of boos, insults and thrown objects. Blocked from running by a court ruling on term limits, Morales has been holed up in his tropical stronghold of Chapare for months evading an arrest warrant for allegedly impregnating a 15-year-old girl while president. He has branded Rodríguez a traitor for competing and encouraged his supporters to register their anger at his exclusion by casting null-and-void ballots. His followers appeared to heed his calls: An unusually high proportion of votes, 19 per cent, were deemed invalid. Usually the share of blank and null votes doesn't exceed 6 per cent. Tensions ran high as Morales' supporters mobilized against elections but voting even in the restive jungle largely passed peacefully, authorities said, with only minor disruptions. A dynamite stick went off near the school where Rodríguez planned to cast his ballot in Chapare. When he arrived hours later, pro-Morales crowds assaulted him with bottles and rocks as he voted. Whisked away by guards, Rodríguez later called it a 'difficult moment.' The win for Paz came as a shock to a nation that had been conditioned by weeks of opinion polls to expect that the leading right-wing contenders, Quiroga and businessman Samuel Doria Medina, would capture the top two spots. Sunday marked Doria Medina's fourth failed presidential bid. He told grim-faced supporters that he had 'no regrets.' 'I wanted to serve Bolivia as president, and it hasn't been possible,' he said. The promotion of Paz and his more moderate tone reflects Bolivian ambivalence about a dramatic veer to the right. Paz has sought to distance himself from pledges by Quiroga and Doria Medina to sell Bolivia's abundant lithium reserves to foreign companies and turn to the International Monetary Fund for billions of dollars of loans. But he has also launched blistering attacks on the MAS party and its economic model. 'I want to congratulate the people because this is a sign of change,' Paz said. Despite their grand promises, Doria Medina and Quiroga struggled to stir up voter excitement. Bolivians associate them both with the U.S.-backed neoliberal administrations that Morales repudiated when he stormed to office in 2006, declaring an end to Bolivia's 20-year experiment with free-market capitalism. 'If they couldn't govern well before, what makes us think they'll do it now?' asked Yaitzel Poma, 30, referring to Paz's right-wing rivals as she celebrated along the main avenue of Bolivia's capital of La Paz on Sunday. 'We have to learn from the past to make better choices.' After 20 years of Morales' populist, state-directed policies, Bolivia faces a return to belt-tightening. After years of alignment with world powers like China and Russia, Bolivia seems set to reconcile with the United States. Paz supporters have described the former mayor Bolivia's southern town of Tarija as a fresh face with new ideas. 'We want new people, new proposals, another chance for young people,' said 38-year-old Jaqueline Cachaca, a Paz supporter who lost her job at a bank this year amid a wave of layoffs and now sells street food. But Paz, too, has deep ties to Bolivia's old political elite. The 57-year-old lawmaker has had a long career in politics – running for senator with Quiroga's right-wing party in 2014. He's the son of former President Jaime Paz Zamora, who began his political career as a co-founder of the Revolutionary Left Movement, a radical party persecuted under the bloody military dictatorship of Hugo Banzer in the 1970s, before striking a pact with Banzer's right-wing party in order to become president from 1989 to 1993. Doria Medina served as his minister of planning in that government, which oversaw a series of privatizations that devastated local industry. 'What we're doing is moving back in time,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'This is not a new actor with dynamic policies. He's a surrogate for the reconstruction of the traditional right.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elections in Bolivia expected to empower right-wing for first time in decades
Bolivians are voting for a new president and parliament in elections that could see a right-wing government elected for the first time in more than two decades. After a lacklustre campaign overshadowed by a looming economic collapse, the vote – which could spell the end of the Andean nation's long-dominant leftist party – is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times, and one of the most unpredictable. In the run-up to Sunday, some 30% or so of voters remained undecided. Polls showed the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former president Jorge Fernando 'Tuto' Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of Aurora Macro Strategies, a New York-based advisory firm. The election is being closely watched across Latin America for its potential impact on the economic fate and political stability of this long-restive, resource-rich nation. It also marks a watershed moment for the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, whose founder, charismatic ex-president Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. Now shattered by infighting, the party is fighting for its survival in Sunday's elections. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia — a nation of about 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth and crucial deposits of rare earth minerals — follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders such as Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. The sombre mood of the election was clear as voting kicked off at polling stations in central La Paz, Bolivia's capital, and a steady stream of voters began to trickle in. Bolivians waiting to vote at three different secondary schools across the city expressed confused, cynical and bitter emotions, fed by an annual inflation rate of more than 16% last month (compared to 2% less than two years ago), a scarcity of fuel and absence of hope for swift improvement. Several said they were voting for 'el menos peor', the lesser evil. The right-wing opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to chart a new destiny for Bolivia. But both front-runners, Mr Doria Medina and Mr Quiroga, have served in past neoliberal governments and run for president three times before — losing at least twice to Mr Morales. Mr Doria Medina and Mr Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States — ruptured in 2008 when Mr Morales expelled the American ambassador. They have also expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to invest in the country and develop its rich natural resources. After storming to office in 2006, Mr Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, nationalised the nation's oil and gas industry, using the profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his removal, Mr Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. Whoever wins faces daunting challenges. Mr Doria Medina and Mr Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's generous food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution this risks sparking social unrest. All 130 seats in Bolivia's chamber of deputies, the lower house of parliament, are also up for grabs, along with 36 in the senate, the upper house.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Polls open in Bolivia's national elections that could end decades of socialist rule
After a lackluster campaign overshadowed by a looming economic collapse, Bolivians voted on Sunday for a new president and parliament in elections that could see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades. The vote, which could spell the end of the Andean nation's long-dominant leftist party, is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times - and one of the most unpredictable. In the run-up to Sunday, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remained undecided. Polls showed the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando 'Tuto' Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of Aurora Macro Strategies, a New York-based advisory firm. A right-wing victory isn't assured. Many longtime voters for the governing Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, now shattered by infighting, live in rural areas and tend to be undercounted in polling. With the nation's worst economic crisis in four decades leaving Bolivians waiting hours in fuel lines, struggling to find subsidized bread and squeezed by double-digit inflation, the opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to alter the country's destiny. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of Aurora Macro Strategies, a New York-based advisory firm. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia — a nation of about 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth and crucial deposits of rare earth minerals — follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. Doria Medina and Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States — ruptured in 2008 when charismatic, long-serving former President Evo Morales expelled the American ambassador. The front-runners also have expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to invest in the country and develop its rich natural resources. After storming to office in 2006 at the start of the commodities boom, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalized the nation's oil and gas industry, using the lush profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew his candidacy for the MAS on account of his plummeting popularity and nominated his senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo. As the party splintered, Andrónico Rodríguez, the 36-year-old president of the senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Rather than back the candidate widely considered his heir, Morales, holed up in his tropical stronghold and evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his relationship with a 15-year-old girl, has urged his supporters to deface their ballots or leave them blank. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. President Arce appealed to the population to reject Morales' calls, arguing that those spoiling their ballots were doing damage to democracy. 'We urge the population to go out and vote,' he said while casting his vote in Bolivia's capital of La Paz. 'We must demonstrate unity and commitment to democracy.' Doria Medina and Quiroga, familiar faces in Bolivian politics who both served in past neoliberal governments and have run for president three times before, are struggling to stir up interest as voter angst runs high. 'There's enthusiasm for change but no enthusiasm for the candidates,' said Eddy Abasto, 44, a Tupperware vendor in La Paz torn between voting for Doria Medina and Quiroga. 'It's always the same, those in power live happily spending the country's money, and we suffer.' Whoever wins faces daunting challenges. Doria Medina and Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's generous food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution this risks sparking social unrest. 'A victory for either right-wing candidate could have grave repercussions for Bolivia's Indigenous and impoverished communities,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house. If, as is widely expected, no one receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Oct. 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy.
