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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bolivian voters are hungry for change — and disillusioned by the options ahead of election
Bolivia Election LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The campaign billboards adorning the streets of Bolivia for Sunday's presidential election make grand promises: A solution to the dire economic crisis within 100 days, an end to fuel shortages and bread lines, unity for a divided nation. One vice presidential candidate pledges to 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' In their efforts to draw votes, all eight candidates — two right-wing front-runners, a conservative centrist and splintered factions of Bolivia's long-dominant left-wing — are vowing drastic change, launching searing attacks on the status quo and selling a message of hope. But for many Bolivians, hope has already hardened into cynicism. Slogans fail to break through Promises of quick fixes — like right-wing candidate Samuel Doria Medina's pledge to stabilize the upside-down economy within '100 days, dammit!' — fall flat. Vandals add extra zeroes to his campaign posters, suggesting a million days might be a more realistic goal. Tuto, the nickname of Jorge Quiroga, the other right-wing favorite, turns up on city walls with its first letter swapped to form a Spanish insult. Some signs for left-wing candidate Andrónico Rodríguez, pledging 'unity above all' have been defaced to read 'unity in the face of lines.' And few know what to do with the acronym of the governing party candidate, Eduardo del Castillo: 'We Are a National Option with Authentic Ideas.' (No, It's not any catchier in Spanish). Yet for all their disenchantment with politicians, Bolivians are counting down the days until elections, united in their relief that, no matter what happens, leftist President Luis Arce will leave office after five difficult years. Inflation is soaring. The central bank has burned through its dollar reserves. Imported goods have vanished from shelves. 'I have no faith in any candidate. There's no one new in this race,' Alex Poma Quispe, 25, told The Associated Press from his family's fruit truck, where he slept curled into a ball in the front seat Wednesday for a second straight night, stranded with 50 other trucks in a fuel line en route from farms in the Yungas region to markets in Bolivia's capital of La Paz. 'The only thing we're enthusiastic about is Arce leaving.' New campaigns, old faces A bitter power struggle between Arce and former President Evo Morales has shattered their hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, giving the right-wing opposition its best shot at victory in two decades. 'I've seen that socialism has brought nothing good to this country,' said Victor Ticona, 24, a music student, as he left Quiroga's campaign rally Wednesday. 'We have to become more competitive in the world.' Doria Medina, a 66-year-old multimillionaire businessman, and Quiroga, a 65-year-old former vice president who briefly assumed the presidency in 2001 after then-President Hugo Banzer resigned with cancer, are familiar faces in Bolivian politics. Both have run for president three times before. While their calls for economic freedom and foreign investment appeal to voters desperate for change, they have struggled to stir up excitement. Nearly 30% of voters are undecided, according to polls. Doria Medina, a former minister of planning, acknowledged in a recent social media video that 'people say I have no charisma, that I'm too serious.' Quiroga's association with Banzer, a former military dictator who brutally quashed dissent over seven corruption-plagued years before being democratically elected, has turned some voters off. 'It was a bloody era,' recalled 52-year-old taxi driver Juan Carlos Mamani. 'For me, Tuto is the definition of the old guard.' At the pumps, not the polls Poma Quispe and his 24-year-old brother Weimar have no idea who'd they vote for — or if they'll vote at all. Voting is compulsory in Bolivia, and about 7.9 million people in the country of 12 million are eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's election. Non-voters face various financial penalties. Over the past year, fuel shortages have brought much of Bolivia to a standstill. Truckers waste days at a time queuing at empty gas stations around Bolivia, just to keep their vehicles moving. The diesel arrives on no set schedule, and the rhythm of life is forced to adapt. If the diesel arrives before Sunday, the Poma Quispe brothers will vote. If not, 'there's no way we're giving up our spot in line for those candidates,' Weimar Poma Quispe said. Personal drama over political debate This year's election coincides with the 200th anniversary of Bolivia's independence. But instead of celebrating, many Bolivians are questioning the validity of their democracy and state-directed economic model. Crowds booed at President Arce during his bicentennial speech earlier this month. His government invited left-wing presidents from across Latin America to attend the event; only the president of Honduras showed. The lack of enthusiasm among ordinary Bolivians and beleaguered officials seems matched by that of the candidates. Authorities allowed televised presidential debates — banned under Morales — for the first time in 20 years. The front-runners turned up to just one of them. Personal attacks overshadowed policy discussions. Doria Medina accused Del Castillo of ties to drug traffickers, while Del Castillo mocked the businessman's record of failed presidential bids. Rodríguez and Quiroga traded barbs over alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. Chasing the youth vote The median age in Bolivia is 26. For comparison, it is 39 in China and the United States. Having grown up under the government of Morales and his MAS party, many young Bolivians are restive, disillusioned by current prospects as they become more digitally connected than any generation before them. Quiroga in particular has energized young voters with his running mate, JP Velasco, a successful 38-year-old tech entrepreneur with no political experience who vows to reverse a brain drain in Bolivia and create opportunities for youth in exploiting the country's abundant reserves of lithium, the critical metal for electric vehicle batteries, and developing data centers. Young crowds packed Quiroga's Wednesday night campaign rally, even as 20-somethings in goth makeup and tight-stretch dresses expressed more interest in the lively cumbia bands than the political speeches. Others sported red MAGA-style caps with Velasco's slogan, 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' Cap-wearers offered varying answers on when Bolivia was last 'sexy,' with some saying never, but agreed it meant attractive to foreign investors. 'It won't just be tech companies coming here, McDonald's might even come,' Velasco told the crowd, eliciting whoops and howls. 'Young people, if you go abroad, let it be for vacation.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Bolivian voters are hungry for change — and disillusioned by the options ahead of election
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The campaign billboards adorning the streets of Bolivia for Sunday's presidential election make grand promises: A solution to the dire economic crisis within 100 days, an end to fuel shortages and bread lines, unity for a divided nation. One vice presidential candidate pledges to 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' In their efforts to draw votes, all eight candidates — two right-wing front-runners, a conservative centrist and splintered factions of Bolivia's long-dominant left-wing — are vowing drastic change, launching searing attacks on the status quo and selling a message of hope. But for many Bolivians, hope has already hardened into cynicism. Slogans fail to break through Promises of quick fixes — like right-wing candidate Samuel Doria Medina's pledge to stabilize the upside-down economy within '100 days, dammit!' — fall flat. Vandals add extra zeroes to his campaign posters, suggesting a million days might be a more realistic goal. Tuto, the nickname of Jorge Quiroga, the other right-wing favorite, turns up on city walls with its first letter swapped to form a Spanish insult. Some signs for left-wing candidate Andrónico Rodríguez, pledging 'unity above all' have been defaced to read 'unity in the face of lines.' And few know what to do with the acronym of the governing party candidate, Eduardo del Castillo: 'We Are a National Option with Authentic Ideas.' (No, It's not any catchier in Spanish). Yet for all their disenchantment with politicians, Bolivians are counting down the days until elections, united in their relief that, no matter what happens, leftist President Luis Arce will leave office after five difficult years. Inflation is soaring. The central bank has burned through its dollar reserves. Imported goods have vanished from shelves. 'I have no faith in any candidate. There's no one new in this race,' Alex Poma Quispe, 25, told The Associated Press from his family's fruit truck, where he slept curled into a ball in the front seat Wednesday for a second straight night, stranded with 50 other trucks in a fuel line en route from farms in the Yungas region to markets in Bolivia's capital of La Paz. 'The only thing we're enthusiastic about is Arce leaving.' New campaigns, old faces A bitter power struggle between Arce and former President Evo Morales has shattered their hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, giving the right-wing opposition its best shot at victory in two decades. 'I've seen that socialism has brought nothing good to this country,' said Victor Ticona, 24, a music student, as he left Quiroga's campaign rally Wednesday. 'We have to become more competitive in the world.' Doria Medina, a 66-year-old multimillionaire businessman, and Quiroga, a 65-year-old former vice president who briefly assumed the presidency in 2001 after then-President Hugo Banzer resigned with cancer, are familiar faces in Bolivian politics. Both have run for president three times before. While their calls for economic freedom and foreign investment appeal to voters desperate for change, they have struggled to stir up excitement. Nearly 30% of voters are undecided, according to polls. Doria Medina, a former minister of planning, acknowledged in a recent social media video that 'people say I have no charisma, that I'm too serious.' Quiroga's association with Banzer, a former military dictator who brutally quashed dissent over seven corruption-plagued years before being democratically elected, has turned some voters off. 'It was a bloody era,' recalled 52-year-old taxi driver Juan Carlos Mamani. 'For me, Tuto is the definition of the old guard.' At the pumps, not the polls Poma Quispe and his 24-year-old brother Weimar have no idea who'd they vote for — or if they'll vote at all. Voting is compulsory in Bolivia, and about 7.9 million people in the country of 12 million are eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's election. Non-voters face various financial penalties. Over the past year, fuel shortages have brought much of Bolivia to a standstill. Truckers waste days at a time queuing at empty gas stations around Bolivia, just to keep their vehicles moving. The diesel arrives on no set schedule, and the rhythm of life is forced to adapt. If the diesel arrives before Sunday, the Poma Quispe brothers will vote. If not, 'there's no way we're giving up our spot in line for those candidates,' Weimar Poma Quispe said. Personal drama over political debate This year's election coincides with the 200th anniversary of Bolivia's independence. But instead of celebrating, many Bolivians are questioning the validity of their democracy and state-directed economic model. Crowds booed at President Arce during his bicentennial speech earlier this month. His government invited left-wing presidents from across Latin America to attend the event; only the president of Honduras showed. The lack of enthusiasm among ordinary Bolivians and beleaguered officials seems matched by that of the candidates. Authorities allowed televised presidential debates — banned under Morales — for the first time in 20 years. The front-runners turned up to just one of them. Personal attacks overshadowed policy discussions. Doria Medina accused Del Castillo of ties to drug traffickers, while Del Castillo mocked the businessman's record of failed presidential bids. Rodríguez and Quiroga traded barbs over alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. Chasing the youth vote The median age in Bolivia is 26. For comparison, it is 39 in China and the United States. Having grown up under the government of Morales and his MAS party, many young Bolivians are restive, disillusioned by current prospects as they become more digitally connected than any generation before them. Quiroga in particular has energized young voters with his running mate, JP Velasco, a successful 38-year-old tech entrepreneur with no political experience who vows to reverse a brain drain in Bolivia and create opportunities for youth in exploiting the country's abundant reserves of lithium, the critical metal for electric vehicle batteries, and developing data centers. Young crowds packed Quiroga's Wednesday night campaign rally, even as 20-somethings in goth makeup and tight-stretch dresses expressed more interest in the lively cumbia bands than the political speeches. Others sported red MAGA-style caps with Velasco's slogan, 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' Cap-wearers offered varying answers on when Bolivia was last 'sexy,' with some saying never, but agreed it meant attractive to foreign investors. 'It won't just be tech companies coming here, McDonald's might even come,' Velasco told the crowd, eliciting whoops and howls. 'Young people, if you go abroad, let it be for vacation.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Democrats abandon tradition as 2028 presidential hopefuls openly declare White House ambitions
Are there any Democrats out there who aren't running for president? Sure doesn't seem that way. Back in the day, potential candidates would deny even thinking about it. I remember interviewing Marco Rubio in a Senate hallway about whether he might run in 2016. He denied even contemplating it. I knew it was bull. He knew it was bull. And, of course, he ran–and lost to Donald Trump. It's like when candidates or officeholders say they never look at polls, or offer some bromide on how the only poll that counts is Election Day. Hogwash. They all look at polls, erratic as they may be, or talk to consultants who look at the surveys for them. But now a new dynamic is taking hold, one that might be summarized as: Hell yeah, I'm running! I mean, there are obligatory nods to focusing on next year's midterms. But there is no longer the Kabuki dance of pretending a lack of interest. The New York Times has a nice piece on this. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is telling reporters he "would consider" a White House run. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says if he's "asked to serve" – by whom? – he will do "whatever it takes" to run. Excuse me, how does Walz's big flop as Kamala's running mate qualify him for the top spot? Arizona's Ruben Gallego, who's been a senator for about 12 minutes, said he's awaiting the birth of his third child but added: "Babies get older." Many of these White House wannabes have little name recognition, which means they have nothing to lose by running, which can at least lead to a cable news contract. Pete Buttigieg, having been bitten once by the bug, is obviously running again, but the former Transportation secretary is playing coy–"Right now I'm not running for anything" – right – but it's nice to hear from people who backed him. My favorite quote is from Gallego, who told NBC: "Has it ever crossed my mind? Of course," adding an expletive. "I'm an elected official. It crosses my mind." The prognosticators have counted at least 19 potential contenders. Many of them won't make it to Iowa. Or won't make it to the debate stage because their polls are too low. Or are forced out of the race when their fundraising dries up. The Great Mentioner was openly replaced by the media, which in turn yielded to social media and podcasters. But the good old legacy media – now deemed a grievous insult – still have the chance to do the most original reporting. It's expensive to cover campaigns. Media organizations are charged for riding on Air Force One or private charters. Their bosses must pay for their food and lodging for days on end. Some expense account dinners are legendary. But it's fun, largely a young person's game. They're not sitting in some air-conditioned studio. Which is why you're reading about this now, over 3½ years before the next presidential election.
New York Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Presidential Rivals Vow to Heal a Divided South Korea. It Won't Be Easy.
The two candidates who will fight it out to win election as South Korea's next president overcame great odds to get where they are. Lee Jae-myung was a teenage sweatshop worker whose family survived on rotten fruits. Kim Moon-soo was imprisoned and tortured for anti-government activism. Both survived weeks of political and legal turbulence that threatened to upend their presidential bid. Now, as the official campaign for the June 3 poll kicks off on Monday, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim have emerged as two main contenders. They represent opposite sides of a political divide that is unlikely to be bridged, even though both have promised to pursue national unity if elected. The election follows the removal last month of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached for his short-lived attempt to place South Korea under martial law. As such, the campaign is being fought less over policies and more as a referendum on Mr. Yoon and his right-wing People Power Party. The party has not cut ties with Mr. Yoon, who is facing trial on insurrection charges. Instead, it has veered further to the right by choosing Mr. Kim, Mr. Yoon's former labor minister, as its presidential candidate. When Mr. Yoon's cabinet members were asked during a parliamentary session in December to apologize for the imposition of martial law, Mr. Kim was the only one who refused to stand and bow. His main rival Mr. Lee, 60, has led in pre-election surveys. After winning his Democratic Party's presidential nomination with an unprecedented 89.77 percent of the votes, he said: 'I am ordered to end the old era of insurrection and regression and open a new era of hope.' Both Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim, 73, had to clear last-minute hurdles to run for president, adding to the uncertainty that has pervaded South Korean politics in recent months. A criminal charge of election law violations against Mr. Lee, which he denies, threatened his eligibility until a Seoul court postponed a ruling on the case until after the election. On the opposite side, Mr. Kim won a primary race only to see the People Power Party's leadership cancel his candidacy, moving to replace him with former Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck-soo, who they claimed had a better chance against Mr. Lee. Mr. Kim took legal action against his own party's leaders, calling them a 'monster' and accusing them of a 'political coup.' But over the weekend, party members voted to restore Mr. Kim's candidacy, and Mr. Han bowed out of the race. Mr. Kim struggled to heal his torn party, invoking the same right-wing fear and indignation that drove Mr. Yoon to send military troops to the Democrat-controlled National Assembly to try to impose martial law. Mr. Kim warned that if Mr. Lee won the presidency, with his party holding a majority in Parliament, he would become a left-wing behemoth and make South Korea more friendly toward China and North Korea at the cost of its alliance with the United States. 'He is already a dictator,' said Mr. Kim, comparing Mr. Lee to the leaders of North Korea and China. 'Who gets 89.77 percent of his party's support other than Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping?' The June election is an extension of the political struggle unleashed by Mr. Yoon's martial law. 'For progressives, ending the insurrection is the dominating theme in the election,' said Sung Deuk Hahm, a political scientist at Kyonggi University. 'But fear is driving the conservatives — fear that if Lee Jae-myung is elected, he would become a super-imperial president and devastate their ranks.' Rising From Poverty Mr. Lee's life story resonates with many in South Korea. When he was a teenager, his family of eight moved into a one-room semi-underground hut in a slum south of Seoul. His parents made a living collecting garbage and cleaning public toilets. After elementary school, he went to work in a baseball glove factory and other sweatshops. His left arm was permanently deformed when it was crushed in a press machine. 'When I saw girls going to school while pushing my father's dirty cart from behind, I was so ashamed that I hid behind a street corner,' Mr. Lee said. 'But my miserable life has given me the strength to push forward through difficulties.' Although he never attended middle or high school, Mr. Lee passed college entrance exams. He became a human rights lawyer, mayor, provincial governor, lawmaker, the head of South Korea's largest political party and twice its presidential candidate. He has survived an attempt on his life, as well as criminal charges that almost derailed his political career. When he was a mayor, Mr. Lee provided free school uniforms and free postpartum care service. As a governor, he handed out cash bonuses to help young people find jobs or pay for tuition. He was the first governor to dole out pandemic relief payments to all residents. He also had an aggressive side. During the pandemic, his populous Gyeonggi province enforced strict social-distancing steps that were later adopted by the central government. It also cleaned up scenic valleys by driving out illegal restaurants. As Mr. Lee runs for president a second time (he lost his first bid to Mr. Yoon in 2022), he has tried to expand his appeal among voters in the middle by promising not to seek political revenge and to work for national unity. He emphasized efficiency and pragmatism over ideology. 'A cat is a good cat so long as it catches mice well,' he said. To counter the conservatives' accusations that he was 'pro-China and anti-American,' Mr. Lee has emphasized the importance of his country's alliance with Washington and trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan for regional security. A Progressive Turned Conservative But his conservative enemies remain unconvinced, calling him a ruthless 'populist.' Mr. Kim is tapping into such misgivings against the election favorite to rally conservative support. He has taken a long, zigzagging journey to reach the position he is in. Mr. Kim was a famed progressive activist in the 1970s and '80s. He was twice expelled from Seoul National University for his anti-government activism. He led a wave of student activists who disguised themselves as workers to build labor unions. And he refused to give away the whereabouts of fellow activists on the run, even under torture by military agents. The labor movement he helped found remains a potent left-wing political force. But Mr. Kim was also a maverick. While many former activists became members of the Democratic Party in the 1990s after the country's democratization, Mr. Kim joined the conservative camp, becoming a lawmaker and provincial governor. He has since said he gave up his 'revolutionist' and 'anti-American' views after observing the collapse of the Soviet bloc. But he suffered a series of electoral defeats in the past decade. He was mainly known for extreme right-wing comments — he once called a former liberal president a pro-North Korean who deserved to be 'executed' — before Mr. Yoon picked him as his labor minister last year. Mr. Kim called Mr. Yoon's martial law a mistake. But he also blamed the left-wing opposition's obstructive tactics in Parliament for driving Mr. Yoon to the extreme measure. If elected, he said he would make South Korea a more reliable ally for Washington and increase deterrence against North Korea. He said that he, too, would work for national harmony. 'If you look at my life trajectory, there is nothing I haven't tried, nothing I cannot understand, no one I cannot embrace,' Mr. Kim said.
