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Conservative politician Rodrigo Paz was sworn in as Bolivia’s new president on Saturday, ushering in a new era for the Andean nation after nearly 20 years of one-party rule.
Paz took the oath of office before lawmakers and foreign leaders, raising his right hand before a Bible and a cross. “God, country, and family, I do swear,” he said before receiving the presidential sash and medals.
The inauguration of Paz, 58, has generated anticipation among Bolivians weary of the severe fuel shortages and high food prices that have come to characterise the country’s worst cost of living crisis in decades.
To widespread surprise, he beat out his far more prominent right-wing opponent, former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, in a presidential runoff vote last month.
Paz inherits an economy in shambles after 20 years of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party, founded by charismatic former President Evo Morales.
The party had its heyday during the commodities boom of the early 2000s, but natural gas exports have sputtered and its statist economic model of generous subsidies and a fixed exchange rate has collapsed.
With US dollars scarce and chronic fuel shortages, a majority of voters chose Paz to lift them out of what experts have called the worst economic crisis in 40 years.
He pitched major reforms but at a more gradual pace than Quiroga, who advocated an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and fiscal shock programme.
“The country we inherited is devastated … morally and materially indebted, with endless lines for fuel and empty markets,” said Paz in his first speech as president.
“Bolivia is rejoining the world, never again isolated. Never again will the country be held hostage by an ideology; ideology doesn’t put food on the table.”
The presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Chile, Gabriel Boric; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi; and Paraguay, Santiago Peña attended the inauguration in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.
After his 20 October victory, Paz distanced himself from the ALBA bloc — of which Bolivia is part of along with Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — and moved closer to the United States, from which his country had grew apart after the expulsion of the US ambassador in 2008, during Morales’ administration.
Paz also engaged with international financial institutions regarding potential economic assistance programmes. In addition, the new president reached an initial agreement with the Andean Development Corporation for a $3.1 billion (€2.68 billion) loan to boost economic recovery over the next few years.
Paz also announced after the election that his government will cooperate with all international organisations on security matters, including the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which Morales also expelled from the country at the end of 2008.
“We haven’t been handed a throne, but a task,” Paz said. “This is the time for true democracy and respect for the law; no one is above the law. We will overcome that disgraceful and shameful past.”
Paz will now have to work on building a solid alliance with political blocs as his Christian Democratic Party controls only 39% of the 166-seat Legislative Assembly.
Additional sources • AP
