Bolivia, from fear of the MAS to the reconstruction of the republic
By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 10/11/2025
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Bolivia began the first week of November 2025 with two very important milestones: 1) a renewed parliament and 2) a new executive branch headed by Rodrigo Paz. We arrived at this point after an attempt by coca grower Morales to remain in power indefinitely; a failed transitional government under Jeanine Añez; a disastrous administration by Arce Catacora; and unprecedented elections that included a runoff.
More than two decades of dictatorship have affected the collective psyche of a large part of the Bolivian population. Consequently, political debate was replaced by fear and despair. In the last five presidential elections (2009, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2025), the functional opposition (Carlos Mesa, Tuto Quiroga, Samuel Doria Medina, and Manfred Reyes Villa) played the easiest strategy: anti-MAS sentiment.
“The strategic vote” or “it’s the lesser of two evils” were options fueled by fear of the MAS party. After all, terrified people always cry out for saviors. However, that era is over. In fact, trying to maintain that narrative, especially in urban middle- and upper-middle-class areas, was one of the reasons for Tuto Quiroga’s defeat in the October 18 runoff election.
Rodrigo Paz, who started the campaign far behind in the polls, emerged victorious in both rounds of the election. But more than winning the electoral process, his most significant challenge lies elsewhere: maintaining the entire criminal system that Cuba and Venezuela have established in Bolivia, or choosing to restore the core elements of democracy. In this regard, Carlos Sánchez Berzain, in an interview with www.infobae.com, states:
The cause of the crisis in Bolivia is the institutional destruction that began with the establishment of the Plurinational State and all the abuses that this has generated. The economic crisis, the lack of dollars, the depletion of state resources, the surrender of natural resources, the fact that Bolivia is a narco-state, the fact that Bolivia serves as a base for Iran and Cuba, the shortage of diesel and gasoline, the path of poverty and misery—all of this is determined by a system that must be eliminated by restoring the republic. Only then can we speak of economic policy. And economic policy is obviously shaped by the direction of the world, which means respect for private property, investment, technology, the capabilities of Bolivians who possess them, transparency, the fight against corruption, and, of course, distancing ourselves from drug trafficking and the narco-state.
In other words, President Rodrigo Paz could be the man who restores the republic or, simply, the fourth leader of the narco-state. That decision rests with him, but it also requires a great deal of civic responsibility, as the citizenry has an enormous task ahead: rebuilding the political parties.
Political parties are important for three things: 1) doctrine and political education, a remedy against improvisation, the buying of candidacies and defection, 2) offering public policies and a model of state management, things currently absent in fronts like LIBRE or Comunidad Ciudadana, and 3) representation before power, a fundamental element to curb totalitarian ambitions.
Due to a twist of fate and its own internal struggles, the MAS lost power after twenty years. This opened an opportunity for those of us aspiring to a political career and our project, which is certainly very ambitious: to put Bolivia on the path of a capitalist, globalized world undergoing technological revolution. In conclusion, it's time to take action.
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».