Senator Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democrat Party has been elected the next President of Bolivia. In August, he finished first in the general election, winning a run-off election with former President Jorge “Tuto’ Quiroga.
In the run-off election, Paz won 54.5% to 45.5%. The election breaks the socialist control of the country as Bolivia looks to follow Argentina in opening their markets and purging the government of waste. He has promised to take a “gradual approach to free-market reforms in hopes of avoiding a sharp recession or jump in inflation that would enrage the masses.”
It looks like Bolivia is done with socialism. For the first time since 2005, the country has officially elected a candidate who is not a part of Evo Morales’ Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. This comes as Bolivia faces a serious economic crisis — something that seems to go hand-in-hand with years of socialism.
As I reported back in August, the country held its general election, which led to a runoff between center-right Senator Rodrigo Paz, who earned 32.18% of the vote, and conservative former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, who earned 26.81% of the vote.