LA PAZ, Bolivia — Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator who was never a nationally prominent figure until now, won Bolivia’s presidential election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, galvanizing voters outraged by the country’s economic crisis and frustrated after 20 years of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party.
“The trend is irreversible,” Óscar Hassenteufel, the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, said of Paz’s lead over his rival, former right-wing President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.
The hotel ballroom in Bolivia’s capital of La Paz went wild, with people shouting his name and holding phones aloft.
“I’ve called Rodrigo Paz and wished him congratulations,” he said in a somber speech, prompting jeers and cries of fraud from the audience.
“We feel victorious,” Roger Carrillo, a volunteer with Paz’s party, said by phone from eastern Bolivia, where he was rallying a celebratory caravan.
LA PAZ, Bolivia — According to early results, Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator who had never before gained national prominence, won Sunday’s presidential election. The victory energized voters who were angry about the nation’s economic crisis and dissatisfied with the Movement Toward Socialism party’s 20 years in power.
Regarding Paz’s advantage over his opponent, former right-wing President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, Supreme Electoral Tribunal President Óscar Hassenteufel declared, “The trend is irreversible.”.
According to preliminary results, Paz received 54% of the vote, while Quiroga received 45%.
Alongside his wife, María Helena Urquidi, and their four grown children, Paz took the podium on Sunday night. People in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, erupted in yelling his name and raising their phones in the hotel ballroom.
“Bolivia can be sure that this government will bring solutions today,” he assured supporters. “To advance, Bolivia needs winds of transformation and rebirth. “.
Quiroga gave in to Paz soon after the results were announced.
“I’ve called Rodrigo Paz and wished him congratulations,” he said in a solemn speech, which caused the audience to boo and scream that he was a phony. Refusing to acknowledge the results, however, would “leave the country hanging,” according to Quiroga, who urged rest. “.”.
“We’d just exacerbate the problems of people suffering from the crisis,” he stated. “A mature mindset is what we need at the moment. “..”.
Paz and his well-liked running mate, former police captain Capt. Working-class and rural voters who were fed up with the unchecked spending of the long-ruling Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party but leery of Quiroga’s drastic 180-degree shift away from its social protections started to support Edman Lara.
More moderate voters were also turned off by Quiroga’s willingness to accept a shock treatment package from the International Monetary Fund, an institution that has long stoked political animosity in Bolivia, similar to what Bolivians learned to fear in the 1990s.
For the first time since the election of Bolivia’s first Indigenous president and MAS founder Evo Morales in 2005, Paz’s victory puts this 12 million-person South American country on a very uncertain path as he attempts to implement significant change.
Paz will still have to make concessions in order to enact a comprehensive reform, even though his Christian Democratic Party has the advantage of a slim majority in Congress.
Paz intends to redraw a large portion of the MAS economic model that dominated for twenty years, phase out generous fuel subsidies, reduce significant public investment, and end Bolivia’s fixed exchange rate. However, he says he will keep the benefits of MAS and implement free-market reforms gradually in order to prevent a severe recession or spike in inflation that would infuriate the populace, as has previously occurred in Bolivia.
Morales’ 2011 attempt to remove fuel subsidies was short-lived as nationwide protests swept the nation.
Paz inherits a collapsed economy.
Car horns and fireworks were blaring as Paz’s supporters cheered loudly and rushed into the streets of La Paz. “The people, united, will never be defeated!” yelled some of the fans as they crowded a downtown hotel where Paz spoke.
Paz’s party volunteer Roger Carrillo called from eastern Bolivia, where he was leading a joyous caravan, and said, “We feel victorious.”. “Even though we have work to do, we just want to savor the present. “,”.
Behind the festivities, Bolivia is up against a steep hill.
The Andean country has suffered from a U shortage since 2023. S. . dollars that have hindered imports and separated Bolivians from their own savings. Last month, the annual rate of inflation shot up to 23 percent, the highest since 1991. Drivers frequently have to wait days in line to fill up their tanks due to fuel shortages, which paralyze the nation.
Paz needs to get fuel imports flowing and restock the nation’s scant foreign exchange reserves to get through even his first few months in office.
Paz has promised to fight corruption, cut back on unnecessary spending, and rebuild enough trust in the nation’s currency to entice the United States to avoid the IMF. S. . Dollar savings are moving into the banking system from beneath Bolivians’ mattresses.
Paz’s stated hesitancy to apply the fiscal brakes, however, has drawn criticism because he promised cash handouts to the poor to lessen the impact of the reductions in subsidies.
“It’s just so vague, I feel like he’s saying these things to please voters when fiscally it doesn’t add up,” said Rodrigo Tribeño, 48, who cast his ballot for Quiroga on Sunday. “A significant change was required. “..”.
a foreigner with political standing.
Although Paz has over 20 years of political experience as a lawmaker and mayor, he entered this race as a political unknown. Paz is the son of former President Jaime Paz Zamora, who served from 1989 to 1993. In the August vote, the senator unexpectedly climbed from the bottom of the polls to the top spot.
His party won over important segments of the Indigenous Aymara and working-class Bolivians that formerly made up Morales’ base, taking control of six of the country’s nine regional departments, including the vast, coca-producing region of Cochabamba and the Andean highlands of western Bolivia.
Many merchants and business owners who prospered during Morales’ prime but later complained about his excessive taxes and regulations found solace in Paz’s catchphrase of “capitalism for all.”.
In contrast, Quiroga carried the wealthier eastern lowlands of Santa Cruz, which is regarded as the agricultural engine of the nation.
“Class differences are very evident. “You have people who have been in politics and the economic elite for a long time—businesspeople, agro-industrialists,” Bolivian political analyst Verónica Rocha said of Quiroga. “It’s the other way around with Paz. “,”.
The race is shaken up by an ex-cop.
When Paz unexpectedly chose Lara to be his running mate, the race appeared to be a dull affair. Despite having no political experience, the charming young former police officer rose to fame on TikTok after being dismissed from the force for criticizing corruption in widely shared videos.
After losing his job, he made ends meet by selling used clothing and practicing law, which helped many former MAS supporters relate to his story of assisting Bolivians in coming forward with corruption-related information.
On the campaign trail, tension was created by Lara’s fiery, populist promises of universal income for women and higher pensions for retirees, which frequently forced Paz to control damage. For those who believe that Lara is polarizing and impulsive, many Bolivians argue that these qualities indicate genuineness in contrast to the other telegenic, scripted candidates.
Following Sunday’s victory, Lara’s comments were remarkably accommodative.
After hearing about his victory, Lara spoke to supporters in a more accommodative manner than usual, saying, “It’s time to unite, it’s time to reconcile.”. “Political divisions have ended. “,”.
According to a number of Bolivians interviewed on Sunday, they voted for Lara because they thought he was the front-runner.
Paz doesn’t act like a president like Lara does. Many of us believe that Lara will become the nation’s leader,” said Wendy Cornejo, 28, a former supporter of Morales who now sells crackers in downtown La Paz.
