deepening economic crisis<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n\n \u201cThis election marks a political turning point,\u201d said Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche, analyst for the Southern Andes at International Crisis Group. \u201cBolivia is heading in a new direction,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Both runoff candidates pledged to strengthen diplomatic ties with Washington \u2014 strained since 2009 \u2014 and seek US-backed financial support to stabilize Bolivia\u2019s fragile economy.\n <\/p>\n
\n In late September, Paz unveiled plans for a $1.5 billion economic cooperation deal with US officials to ensure fuel supplies.\n <\/p>\n
\n US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that both presidential candidates \u201cwant stronger, better relations with the United States,\u201d after decades of anti-American leadership. \u201cThis election is a transformative opportunity,\u201d he said on October 15.\n <\/p>\n
\n Outside a polling station in La Paz, Lourdes Mendoza said she had grown weary of the MAS era. \u201cMy children were born and raised with a single government,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope they can see other possibilities and alternatives.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Bolivia\u2019s fragile economy dominated the runoff campaign. Once plentiful natural gas exports have plummeted, inflation is at a 40-year high, and fuel is scarce.\n <\/p>\n
\n Both candidates campaigned to roll back elements of the MAS era, state-led model, but differed over how drastically. Paz favored gradual reform, including tax incentives for small businesses and regional fiscal autonomy, while Quiroga proposed sweeping cuts and an IMF bailout.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re going for a new stage of Bolivian democracy in the 21st century,\u201d Paz told Reuters two days before the election at his family\u2019s ranch in the southern gas-producing region of Tarija.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to try to build an economy for the people,\u201d he said, one where \u201cthe state is no longer going to be the central axis.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Some voters said they were not convinced that his victory represented a true break from MAS: \u201cI think he\u2019s a puppet of the outgoing government,\u201d said 21-year-old Esther Miranda from La Paz, who works in a nail salon.\n <\/p>\n
\n Paz\u2019s campaign was boosted by his running mate Edman Lara, a former police officer known for viral TikTok videos exposing corruption. Lara\u2019s populist appeal helped Paz connect with younger and working-class voters, analysts said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Economists warn the incoming administration faces immediate challenges, including securing fuel supplies and building coalitions in a fragmented legislature.\n <\/p>\n
\n Outgoing hydrocarbons minister Alejandro Gallardo said last week that the state energy company was struggling to obtain foreign currency for fuel imports.\n <\/p>\n
\n Paz told Reuters he was already addressing the issue through deferred payment agreements with fuel suppliers to ensure diesel and gasoline arrive within days of his inauguration.\n <\/p>\n
\n Paz said he would also begin phasing out universal fuel subsidies. Targeted support would go to vulnerable groups, while bigger industries such as agribusiness would pay market rates for fuel.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe market will have to adjust prices, but there are sectors that will have government support until the economy is reactivated,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Bolivia\u2019s main labor union, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), has previously warned it would oppose any threats to the social and economic gains achieved so far, in a sign of the juggling act for Paz\u2019s government to avoid street protests.\n <\/p>\n
\n Paz\u2019s PDC won 49 of 130 seats in the lower house and 16 of 36 in the Senate, just ahead of Quiroga\u2019s coalition, which secured 43 seats in the lower house and 12 in the Senate.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Centrist Rodrigo Paz won Bolivia\u2019s presidential runoff on Sunday, defeating conservative rival Jorge \u201cTuto\u201d Quiroga, as the country\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-89313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Presidential](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ap25293047936567.jpg\")
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