Bolivia’s candidate Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga said that the country today exports more cocaine through Brazil than natural gas and defended a direct agreement with the Brazilian Federal Police to face drug trafficking.
The statement was made in an interview with S.Paulo Folhadays later, scheduled for October 19th. According to him, the presence of Brazilian factions such as the CCP and the Red Command in Bolivian territory requires an articulated response between countries.
“I want to make the first agreement with PF to have offices here, with cooperation in information and logistics,” he said.
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The proposal reinforces the former president’s hardest tone in the area of security and foreign policy. For Quiroga, Bolivia needs regional support to face organized crime, and Brazil, due to its geopolitical weight, should lead this articulation.
“Brazil often abdicates its role, as in the case of Venezuela,” he criticized, in reference to the Lula government’s support for the Nicolás Maduro regime.
Despite the criticism, Quiroga promised to maintain a close relationship with Brazil, if elected. Classified former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso as “the largest South American in the region’s democratic history” and said he intends to be a strategic ally in Brasilia, including regional trade.
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Criticism of Mercosur and focus on bilateral agreements
In the economic area, Quiroga minimized the weight of Mercosur and criticized the slow agreement with the European Union. “This negotiation has lasted 25 years. I don’t think it will bear fruit anytime soon,” he said. In contrast, the candidate argues to open Asian markets and advance in bilateral agreements, especially in exports of manufactured, textiles and Amazonian nuts to the US and Europe.
It also promised measures of practical integration with neighbors, such as release of without passport, validation of university diplomas and creation of exchange scholarships – “but without climbing any tax,” he said.
End of the era but and disputes in the second round
The Bolivian election of last Sunday (17) ended a cycle of almost two decades of MAS (movement to socialism), party of Evo Morales and Luis Arce. No candidate reached the 50% needed in the first round, nor the 40% with 10 points of advantage. Quiroga, in conservative profile, will face centrist Rodrigo Paz in the second round.
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In its assessment, the Bolivian economic decline originates in the mismanagement of the gas sector during the years of MAS.
“Evo Morales was lucky with the commodities boom. It was enough to open two valves and came 23% of GDP. But they failed to modernize the infrastructure, and now we paid the price,” he said.
