Bolivia: the reasons for the left's defeat at the polls

Bolivian left-wing candidates will not participate in the second round of the presidential election in Bolivia on October 19. This was the decision made by the country's electorate in the first round of voting, held on Sunday (17). Bolivia's shift to the right was expected. The surprise was the higher vote count for presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), who is the son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-1993). The 57-year-old candidate studied economics, international relations and political management, according to his resume. He was born in Spain, when his father was forced into exile during the military dictatorship. A former deputy, he reached the Senate in an alliance with former president Carlos Mesa, an opponent of Evo Morales. Paz, who defines himself as "centrist," received 32% of the vote and will face former right-wing president Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga of the Free Alliance in the second round. Quiroga is a familiar face to Bolivians and received 26,8% of the vote. While Paz defends what he calls "capitalism for all," and without requesting international credit, Tuto announced that, if elected, he will implement adjustments and seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The two are now the focus of attention for Bolivians, while the Movement for Socialism (MAS), fragmented and wounded, laments its defeat. As noted by Evo Morales' former vice-president, the left-wing intellectual Álvaro García Linera, Bolivia took more than 30 years to build the MAS, which on Sunday lost at the polls for the first time in 20 years. García Linera hasn't spoken to Evo for over a year. In interviews, he criticized him and also blamed current president Luis Arce for the MAS's defeat at the polls. "I don't want to talk to Evo because I'm disappointed by his unstrategic attitude, his lack of generosity towards people, his self-centeredness. He doesn't understand the historical role he represents and looks at the world from his own perspective," said Linera. For him, however, the barring of Evo's candidacy in this election was "unfair." The former vice-president is one of the leading experts on Bolivia, Evo, and Arce. Talking to him is an opportunity to understand, through his calm voice, the Andean country and the challenges facing Latin America as a whole. The triumvirate – Evo, Arce, and Linera – was fundamental to the MAS party's arrival at the historic Burned Palace in La Paz. Evo was president (2006-2019) and Arce, his loyal Minister of Economy. In interviews with the international press, Linera said that Arce was one of the main obstacles preventing Evo's candidacy. And that Evo, in turn, reacted by waging "an economic war" that worsened the economic downturn, hindering access to the credit necessary to purchase fuel for the country.

Bolivia has been experiencing a severe economic crisis for almost two years, with fuel shortages causing gigantic lines at gas stations, scarcity of some foods, and inflation of 25% — the food index in the last 12 months has reached 31%. The public feud between Evo Morales and Arce has generated weariness among the electorate, who did not perceive solutions for their daily lives. During the 20 years of MAS administration, Bolivians saw a decrease in poverty rates, an increase in social equality, education levels, and the empowerment of their vast indigenous population. Such was the pride in their own roots that, for the first time in history, at the height of Evo Morales's government, 80% of Bolivians declared themselves indigenous, something that had previously been denied. But the decline in natural gas production, the main pillar of the country's economic resources, which led to lower exports of the product to Brazil and Argentina, complicated the official figures and the continuity of social inclusion in the neighboring country.

The declared political war between the two central MAS politicians – Evo Morales and Arce – led the left to present different candidates in the presidential election. Arce's ally and former minister, the 36-year-old former candidate Eduardo del Castillo, received only 3,2% of the vote. He blamed Evo Morales, saying that the road blockades led by the indigenous leader aggravated the economic crisis. The left-wing presidential candidate who seemed to have the best chance at the polls, 36-year-old Andrónico Rodríguez, president of the Senate, received 8,2% of the vote. In the recent past, he was said to be Evo's "political heir." But the two no longer speak to each other, according to the local press. The current implosion of the MAS, the internal and public disputes, ended up opening the doors for the opposition in the neighboring country.