The center-right Rodrigo Paz is the new president of Bolivia. Once the scrutiny was over, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) of Paz added 54.5% of the votes, compared to 45.5% for the Libre del Con alliance. This Sunday, Quiroga has four failed attempts to become president. Paz, on the other hand, debuts with a victory by beating that until just two months ago, when it seemed impossible.
The , hegemonic for 20 years, finally opened the doors of the Quemado Palace to Paz, a leader trained in a provincial mayor’s office. Bolivia will begin on November 8, the date of the transfer of command, a new political cycle far from the statist and redistributive policies promoted by the MAS. However, the conservative turn will not be as brutal with Paz as what could be expected with Quiroga.
Paz inherited most of the votes from Morales’ party, strong in the indigenous-majority Andean west. His commitment to what he calls “capitalism for all” was key, a still poorly defined experiment with which he managed to seduce a new Aymara bourgeoisie born during masism. These are indigenous people who are no longer defined politically by their origin, but by their position on the social scale: they are university students, businessmen, merchants, transporters and, some of them, successful and very rich businessmen. Paz offered them to eliminate “the State blocks” that today prevents them from developing as entrepreneurs. Quiroga, on the other hand, had promised during the campaign that he would resolve the economic recession left by the MAS with the help of the International Monetary Fund and more openness to international markets. He also warned that he will eliminate the fuel subsidy to end the shortage, a very painful measure that would have meant doubling the price at the pumps.
The first leader to celebrate the result was “It is time for brotherhood and reconciliation, we are all Bolivians. I always believed in God, I left everything to his will,” he said. Lara will deserve special attention. Ex-police is very popular on social networks, so much so that Paz owes a good part of his victory to him. It was common on the streets of La Paz to find people who said they would vote “for the captain,” rather than for the presidential candidate. The relationship between the two will undoubtedly be conflictive, without it being clear yet what the formula will be that guarantees internal peace.
Paz’s success was unexpected in the first round – the polls placed him third – and also in the second: a victory for Tuto Quiroga was expected. Paz won in six of Bolivia’s nine departments, evidence of the national reach of his proposal. In La Paz, where political power is concentrated, he received 65% of the votes; in Cochabamba, it exceeded 60%. Quiroga won by a similar percentage in Santa Cruz, the eastern department that was for 20 years the region that most fought the MAS policies. Santa Cruz is controlled by the extreme right and has always been a voice against the statism promoted by Evo Morales. Its strength is the export of soybeans and livestock, while western Bolivia is an eminently gas and mining region. The Santa Cruz elites found their candidate in Tuto Quiroga, born in Cochabamba, and his neoliberal policies. It hasn’t gone as they expected.
Paz voted early in the morning in Tarija (south), the city of which he was mayor. “These are very difficult times, but Bolivia has great opportunities to move forward,” he said, referring to the economic recession that is devastating the country with high inflation, lack of dollars and gasoline shortages. The now president-elect said that he had already spoken with the parties in Parliament to guarantee governability and advance the reforms he considers necessary. “With our bench we make a majority with any of the forces and not the other way around,” he said. The dart was for former President Quiroga, of the Libre alliance.
The great political tension that marked the campaign quickly died down during election day. The prohibition of circulation for any type of vehicle produces an emptying effect in large cities that highlights the peaceful nature that elections usually have in Bolivia. As the election was between only two candidates, the recount was very fast. The discordant voice was that of Evo Morales, prevented by the Constitution from a new re-election and today a refugee in the coca-growing region of Chapare. There is an arrest warrant for alleged sexual abuse of minors. Morales voted, anyway, and said that neither Paz nor Tuto Quiroga represent “the people and the indigenous people.” That role is reserved for him.
