Bolivia Elects First Centrist President in 20 Years...Expected to Strengthen Ties with U.S.

Rodrigo Paz Effectively Elected
End of 20 Years of Left-Wing Rule
Facing Economic Challenges... Inauguration Set for the 8th of Next Month

President-elect Rodrigo Paz is embracing a supporter at a polling station in La Paz, Bolivia, on the 19th (local time). Photo by EPA Yonhap News

In the runoff presidential election held on the 19th (local time), centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz, 58, was elected president of Bolivia, defeating right-wing former President Jorge Quiroga, 65.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Bolivia announced that, with 90% of the votes counted in the presidential runoff, Paz had secured 54.5% of the vote. Local daily El Deber and broadcaster Unitel reported that, based on the vote counting and trends, Paz was effectively the president-elect.

President-elect Paz is the son of former Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora, 86 (who served from 1989 to 1993), and is currently a senator. He is regarded as favoring a cautious approach to overcoming the national crisis, including decentralizing government authority, promoting private sector growth, and maintaining social welfare programs.

With Paz's election, Bolivia's population of 11.3 million will, for the first time in 20 years since the 2005 presidential election, see a liberal centrist or right-leaning government replace the socialist left-wing administration. Bolivia is currently facing a comprehensive crisis due to reckless state-led national projects under a state-controlled economic system, a shortage of US dollars at the central bank stemming from confusion in foreign exchange policy, and issues of bureaucratic incompetence and corruption.

This situation arose as the Movement for Socialism (MAS), a party long considered the representative left-wing party in Latin America, wielded strong influence during the presidencies of Evo Morales, 65 (2006-2019), and current President Luis Arce, 62. However, political division during this year’s first round of the presidential election led to MAS being thoroughly rejected by voters.

The new Bolivian government is expected to seek improved relations with the United States. During his campaign, President-elect Paz visited the United States and engaged with the Donald Trump administration, signaling early efforts to strengthen ties with the U.S. Paz is scheduled to be inaugurated on the 8th of next month, and his term will last five years.