Rodrigo Paz (Santiago de Compostela, 58 years old) will be the president of Bolivia from November 8. On Sunday, nine points away from the He owes his victory, in large part, to the vote of Evo Morales, hegemonic for 20 years and today decimated by internal fights and lack of project. Paz has an arduous task ahead of him. and the new Government receives an economy in recession, a central bank without reserves, high inflation and fuel shortages.
Paz receives EL PAÍS late on Monday. Earlier, he spoke with a dozen leaders from around the world, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, answered questions to fifty journalists in a hotel in the south of the capital and held a meeting with the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino.
Ask. How is it defined politically?
Answer. I’m from the center. We could say that we are national popular democratic, with a strong national connection, but democratic. Because there were moments in the history of Bolivia when the popular national was linked to the civic-military.
P. He has promised during the campaign that he will solve the problem of fuel shortages with the help of neighboring countries. For how long is the supply guaranteed?
R. We need time to start with another way of managing the economy, of managing what we call the Tranca State. It will be enough time to insert Bolivia based on agreements that we will have in the future. We are isolated from the world. They have been 60,000 million dollars have gone, which for us is an outrage, during the last 20 years and they have left us with a debt of 40,000 million.
P. And how are you going to solve that? You said that you will not ask for help from the IMF.
R. First we must tidy up the house. In these institutions, if you are going to ask if you have a minimum of judgment, they put very complicated locks on you. After 20 years of a kind of 21st century socialism our slogan is capitalism for all. In Bolivia, the formal economy is 15%, 85% is informal. The two blocks agree that they do not want the State. The formal ones are drowned out and the informal ones were formal ones that went to informality. Everyone wants to pay taxes, import, export, but they understand that this State, to sustain itself, is very expensive. In Bolivia, capital plays a fundamental role. In the city of El Alto there is a saint called Santo Capital. If you want to know, as they say in Spain, pure and simple capitalism, go to El Alto
P. What happens if this plan generates social instability? Resolving fuel shortages, for example, means doubling the price.
R. If you ask the vast majority of Bolivians today if they want to maintain the price without fuel or a new price with fuel, they will say that they prefer the latter. The most expensive diesel is the one you don’t have. If there is a vulnerable sector, we are going to protect it.
P. What profile have you given to the Cabinet?
R. Meritocracy will be important. It will also have a balance, because we are a very diverse country. The names will be based on the commitment we have had in the campaign.
P. What will your relationship be like with neighboring countries?
R. We are going to work with whoever wants to work with Bolivia. If I learned anything from the exiles, it is that in each city, in each country that I arrived, I had to see who my neighbors were. He recognized who was the bully, who was the toughest, and he dealt with them all. The point is to live together, that is a lesson I learned since I was a child. I am clear that we are not going to repeat what happened on August 6, the day of the bicentennial of independence, without the presence of any president in Bolivia. That is a geopolitical and geoeconomic failure.
P. On Monday he spoke with Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado. How was that conversation?
R. Very good. Some have generated a certain doubt about our process and I believe that an authoritative voice on democracy is Corina Machado. His was a support not only for the elections, but also for hope for what may happen in the future. Part of my exiles were in Venezuela and today what is happening in Venezuela is clear that it is not what I want for my country.
P. What will the relationship with the United States be like, broken during the MAS administration?
R. We are going to resume relationships.
P. Does that include the return of the DEA anti-narcotics agency?
R. First is the return of the Embassy. There is an obsession with the DEA, especially in the press. Before comes cooperation and mutual work. In 2008, Bolivia exported 500 million dollars to the American market from the city of El Alto and generated 40,000 jobs. Due to a political decision by Evo Morales, in 2009, we went from 550 million to 23 million exports. That is treason to the country and will have to respond to justice.
P. But are you aware that many of your votes came from the MAS?
R. Many Bolivians who voted for Tuto Quiroga, Samuel Doria Medina or Rodrigo Paz had previously voted for the MAS. They are Bolivian votes, not Masistas.
P. Evo Morales anticipated that he will resist neoliberal policies.
R. I am not a neoliberal, who is going to make his speech to the palm trees and take responsibility for the damage he has done. I hope it helps the country move forward, not trying to block it. In Bolivia, everyone has the right to speak and protest, but they cannot harm another Bolivian and the State has to act there.
P. In 2030 his Government ends. What does Bolivia want to leave to the Bolivians?
R. The future is better than the past. But even overcoming all the problems that are leaving us, what we have been able to do will not have been enough. I hope that Bolivia returns to the world and that the world returns to Bolivia. And I want to generate an economy for the people. The economy is not for the State nor for a few powerful people.
