The Internal Rift Threatening Bolivia’s Left
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Loading... - Andres Tapia
- 13 Feb 2023
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Will the conservative opposition recover political power in one of Latin America’s leftist strongholds?
Every Sunday, Evo Morales, the former president of Bolivia, goes on air for his radio program, Evo Is the People, Leader of the Humble. It’s become required listening for Bolivian political analysts. Among other things, Morales uses the slot to go after his political foes. That means Bolivia’s right-wing opposition, NATO, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. But these days, his targets also include the government of his own political party, the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), and its leader, President Luis Arce.
The power struggle over who will lead the MAS in Bolivia’s 2025 elections has burst into the open. It is already complicating governance, with squabbling in the media and rebellions in parliament. And it is hurting both Arce and Morales’s image among the public. If it reaches the point where they run for separate parties, then they could split the MAS vote; even if it doesn’t, the winner may be too tarnished to secure a majority for the MAS. Either scenario would transform the country’s political scene: After almost two decades in which the MAS has governed alone, Bolivia may return to a more complex picture of coalition government. The conservative opposition, long unable to challenge the MAS at the ballot box, might recover a degree of political power. Read More..
