Published 10/19/2025 16:31
Bolivians go to the polls this Sunday (19) for the second round of the presidential elections. The dispute is between two right-wing candidates, a severe blow to the left of the country, governed for almost 20 years by the MAS (Movement to Socialism) with the victories of Evo Morales (2005, 2009, 2014 and 2019) and Luis Arce (2020).
Left-wing hegemony was only interrupted between 2019 and 2020 by the coup d’état promoted by the then second vice-president of the Senate, Jeanine Áñez, currently in prison.
It was through left-wing governments that Bolivia achieved economic growth with income distribution. This allowed profound transformations in the social structure, benefiting the poorest.
However, the future of these achievements is now threatened by the current dispute between center-right senator Rodrigo Paz, of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and conservative former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, of the Aliança Livre (ADN) coalition.
Paz was promoted to the second round after obtaining 32% of the votes in the August 17 contest. Tuto got 27% and once again dreamed of the presidency.
This scenario was created after President Arce decided not to run for reelection following the internal split in the MAS and the dispute over the legacy of the left, while Evo is prevented from running. Their absence intensified internal divisions and opened space for new leadership. Without the two historic leaders, who exchanged accusations during the electoral process, the left was left out of the dispute and far from the top positions.
So much so that third place went to another right-wing candidate, Samuel Doria Medina (Aliança Unity), with 19.8% of the votes, and only later, in fourth place, came a left-wing candidate, senator Andrónico Rodríguez, with 8.1% of the votes. The senator is a former protégé of Morales and was a supporter of MAS, however, he left the party due to the internal dispute and ran as an independent candidate.
read more: Split on the left paves the way for the return of the right in Bolivia
The Movement to Socialism candidate, Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo, supported by Arce, obtained just 3.15% of the preference. Former president Morales campaigned for a null vote.
Preliminary results could be out on Sunday night. The electoral court will photograph the tabulation sheets and transmit them to counting centers in order to allow greater accuracy in the counting. The measure was adopted after the 2019 election, which culminated in the coup against Morales and threw the election into discredit. Observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) are following the election.
Dispute
The center of the electoral dispute is the country’s economy. Natural gas exports, which previously guaranteed much of economic success, have fallen and inflation is now reaching 25% per year.
The renowned model adopted by Morales that allowed GDP growth above 5% per year at the beginning of the last decade must be dismantled, with a loss of state strength and a greater approximation to a neoliberal agenda, aligned with Donald Trump’s United States. The North American welcomes this change in the direction of the South American country, as it contains the largest lithium reserves in the world — essential for the production of batteries for hybrid and electric cars.
The question that remains is the intensity of this pro-market agenda to the detriment of workers. “Tuto” Quiroga, 65 years old, presided over the country between 2001 and 2002 and has Juan Pablo Velasco, a technology businessman, as his deputy. The duo has focused on a campaign that highlights fiscal adjustment, free trade and other recurring issues on the right-wing agenda.
Rodrigo Paz, 58 years old, is a senator and son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora (1989–1993). His running mate is Edman Lara, a former police captain. Their campaign also promotes advances in the private sector, but without discarding social programs achieved over the decades.
Source: vermelho.org.br
