Who is Rodrigo Paz, the unknown “Spanish” centrist who won the presidency of Bolivia

Just three months ago, Rodrigo Paz was a little-known Bolivian opposition senator, son of an illustrious figure and with an ambiguous reputation as mayor. Now, he has become the first conservative to win a presidential election in the country in 20 years.

To everyone’s surprise, the center-right Bolivian politician Rodrigo Paz58 years old, surpassed his much more media-friendly far-right rival, the former president Jorge “Tuto” Quirogaguaranteeing victory in the second round of the Bolivian presidential elections this Sunday.

The senator, who will take office on November 8, inherits a devastated economy after two decades of government Movement to Socialism (MAS), party founded by the charismatic former president Evo Moralesin power between 2006 and 2019.

Socialists lived their peak during the raw materials boom in the early 2000s, but natural gas exports collapsed and its statist economic model, based on generous subsidies and at a fixed exchange rate, ended up collapsing.

Tormented by shortage of dollars and lack of fuel that forces them to wait in lines for days, voters across the country chose Paz to get them out of worst economic crisis in the last four decadesremember to .

The new president defended profound reforms, but promised to apply them in a more gradual than Quirogawhich proposed resorting to a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and a budgetary shock program.

Son of former president Jaime Paz Zamorawho governed between 1989 and 1993, and the Spanish Carmen PereiraRodrigo Paz was born in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where he spent his childhood.

His father, one of the founders of the Marxist-inspired Revolutionary Left Movement in the 1960s, had gone into exile in Spain to escape the repression of General Hugo Banzerone of several dictators who ruled Bolivia between 1964 and 1982.

Paz Zamora returned to the country when Bánzer left power in 1978. Years later, in an ironic twisthe would go on to sign a political pact with the same man who had arrested and exiled him.

When he ran for president in 1989, the close result forced a final decision to Congresswhere the socialist concluded an agreement with the former dictator, then converted into a conservative politician, thus guaranteeing victory.

His mandate was marked by strict budgetary discipline and by market reforms that tamed inflation, exciting investors but disillusioning former left-wing supporters, who saw inequality rise and unemployment persist.

Rodrigo Paz began his political career in the left-wing party founded by his father, but later, like his father, reconfigured as conservedr, advocate of pragmatic and pro-business reforms.

He began as a deputy in the lower house of Congress, before being elected mayor of the city of Tarija, in the south of the country, between 2015 and 2020. Since then, he has been a senator.

The population of Tarija, however, was not enthusiastic with his best-known son: in the two presidential rounds, the Peace party was defeated in the region, despite having won in six of the country’s nine districts.

As mayor, modernized the center of Tarija with pedestrian zones and large squares, measures that left many working-class residents feeling like they had been left behind, at a time when the oil region was suffering from falling revenues. Public service layoffs, aimed at containing the growing deficit, angered the unions.

When the electoral campaign began in August, the discreet senator from Tarija he wasn’t even invited to the first television debate. During the broadcast, security guards had to remove a group of his supporters who interrupted the live broadcast, displaying a poster with Paz’s contact details so that he could be included in the following debate.

As the August 17 elections approached, Paz found himself among the last in the pollsin a field of eight candidates. In small campaign actions in the Andean highlands, he had difficulty filling auditoriums.

Choosing a former police captain, Edman Laraas candidate for vice president it was almost accidental — a last-minute solution after giving up on the first choice. But “Captain Lara”, as he is known, ended up boosting the candidacy, leading the duo to victory in both electoral rounds.

Lara’s story, expelled from the police in 2023 for reporting corruption in viral videos on TikTok, reinforced Paz’s anti-corruption message and won sympathy among working-class voters and indigenous communities from the highlands, traditionally linked to the Socialism Movement.

Together, they led a lightning and improvised campaigntouring cities and rural areas with simple and popular events, to the sound of beer and grilled food, under the motto “capitalism for all”.

Avoiding expensive posters, explored the contrast with Quirogathe wealthy rival with a vast campaign budget.

Despite Paz’s plans to eliminate fuel subsidies, devalue the currency and reduce public investment, the populist tone of the campaign convinced voters that changes would be gradual and bearable.

The duo also promised direct support to the poorest families and other social measures to mitigate the impact of the harshest cuts, winning over voters from different backgrounds in a profoundly diverse country.

Between the first and second round, Peace traveled to Washingtonwhere he spoke at think tanks and argued that strengthening relations with the United States is essential for Bolivia’s success.

This could be a turning pointafter years of hostility towards Washington, since, in 2008, Morales antagonized the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the US ambassador to the country.

Since then, Bolivia has allied itself with Venezuela and to other left-wing governments in the region, as well as powers such as China and Russia.

On Sunday night, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated in a statement that Paz’s victory “It’s a transformative opportunitya for both nations.”

“The United States stands ready to collaborate with Bolivia on common priorities, including the combating illegal immigrationstrengthening market access for bilateral investment and combating transnational organized crime, in order to strengthen regional security”, he added.