On August 17, 2025, the first round of elections were held in Bolivia. The results showed that two candidates identified with the right will go to the second round: the unexpected victory of Rodrigo Paz Pereira of the Christian Democratic Party, and in second place Jorge Tuto Quiroga of Alianza Libre. The results of the Parliamentary elections, which were also held that day, favor conservative sectors. 21% of the voters voted null or blank, an option that was promoted by former President Evo Morales, but this does not mean that all these votes were identified with the former president.

In this way, the defeat of progressivism represented by the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), which has governed for the last 20 years and which, currently, with a lot of effort, will have some seats in the Chamber of Deputies, was shown.

The MAS, as a political structure that represents the self-styled "progressive" sectors, was punished by the Bolivian workers and peoples. The serious economic crisis, which has left long lines to buy fuel, the shortage of foreign currency reflected in the parallel exchange rate of the skyrocketing dollar and the rise in prices as a whole, are taking their toll on family economies.

So far this year, Bolivia has seen a cumulative inflation rate of 16.92%, the highest level in 40 years. Workers lost half of their purchasing power, there is a lack of dollars and the prices of imported products have doubled. Supermarkets adjust their prices weekly. The shortage of medicines, aggravated by the lack of foreign currency, creates an increase of up to 130%. Until a few years ago, gas contributed billions in income and allowed for the accumulation of significant international reserves to finance social policies, but since 2015, production has been declining and sales to countries such as Argentina have been lost.

In this adverse economic scenario, caused by the limits of the progressive project of maintaining Bolivia's status as a primary exporting country and taking measures that hit the majority, leaving the interests of the ruling classes intact, the corruption scandals of the Arce (MAS) government and the internal division of the party are added, which led to the defeat of the Movement Towards Socialism.

The right-wing and imperialism sell the idea that the loss of MAS is a defeat for the Bolivian left. Nothing could be further from the truth, since the sectors of the left have not been in government. Evo and Arce belong to a reformist project, which has not questioned the essence of capitalism. Bolivian progressivism lost the elections not because the right wing ran a better campaign or because the people are ungrateful. The defeat of this force is due to the historical limits of that social-democratic political formation, which from the government never affected the interests of the big bourgeoisie or the interests of imperialism; moreover, it deepened the dependence on the transnationals with the exploitation of lithium.

The workers and peoples of Bolivia will have new battles for their rights, continuing their actions for social transformation. This result is not a blank check for the right; it is a demonstration of the rejection of reformism self-styled as "progressivism".

En Marcha #2152 from August 27 to September 2, 2025+
Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

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