LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s presidential vote is headed to an unprecedented runoff after Sunday’s election ended over two decades of ruling party dominance in the Andean nation.
A centrist, Sen. Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, early results showed.
Paz, a former mayor who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition’s push for austerity to rescue Bolivia from a looming economic collapse, will face off against former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, who finished second. Bolivia holds the presidential runoff — its first since its 1982 return to democracy — on Oct. 19.
“This economic model must change,” Paz declared to crowds who cheered and chanted, “Renewal!”
Paz’s campaign had gained unexpected traction as he teamed up with Edman Lara, a social media savvy ex-police captain with evangelical backing whose supporters see him as someone willing to stand up to corruption in the security forces.
With over 91% of the ballots counted Sunday, Paz received 32.8% of the votes cast. Quiroga secured 26.4%. Candidates needed to surpass 50%, or 40% with a 10-point margin of victory, to avoid a runoff.
Austerity never saves anyone but the rich, and then not even always.
It is cruelty for the sake of cruelty dressed up in the false “scientific” prestige of rightwing capitalist cult worship.
The only reason Austerity isn’t more widely recognized as a cult ideology is because it is so painfully unimaginative only the most boring, empty vessels of humans are attracted to it over other more interesting cults. That and all the violence used to sustain the authority of Austerity to crush us one by one…
Bolivian people shows their uncomformity with the ruling party but also with the far right discourse that want DEA to return and sounds like Trump or Milei. In the place where I vote Paz/Lara won by a great margin, also did in La Paz, rural and indigenous places (Quechua and Aymara).
Now Tuto’s followers are saying that “there is a secret pact with MAS party (the rulers) to maintain his proyect with Paz” which makes no sense. Most of the people cause of the vice-president Lara. They identified themselves with him cause he is humble and have to suffer scarcity, specially when he denounced police corruption and was sanctioned. And I’m pretty sure he’s gonna win in October. Just expect that he don’t make deals with Tutos far right.
