Bolivian presidential election: polling stations open, right-wing favorite after nearly 20 years of socialism

Blamed for the severe economic crisis, outgoing President Luis Arce, once supported by Evo Morales but now in conflict with him, has given up seeking a second term.

An election against the backdrop of a crisis. Some 8 million Bolivians are voting for their next president, as well as their deputies and senators, on Sunday, August 17. The Andean country heads to the polls, tired of the lack of dollars and fuel, the result of a stagnant economy, and with its eyes fixed on prices. Annual inflation is approaching 25%, a 17-year record.

It is in this context that the right appears poised to close the cycle initiated twenty years ago by former socialist president Evo Morales . Blamed for the debacle, outgoing President Luis Arce, once supported by Evo Morales but now in conflict with him, has given up seeking a second term. Andronico Rodriguez, the Senate president who is also from the left, and the candidate of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), in power since 2006, Eduardo del Castillo, remain far behind in the polls.

Two right-wing candidates are vying for first place: millionaire Samuel Doria Medina, 66, and former president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, 65. The latest polls give the former 21% and the latter 20%, compared to 5.5% for Andronico Rodriguez and 1.5% for Eduardo del Castillo. Barring any surprises, the two frontrunners are expected to meet in a second round on October 19 for an unprecedented duel.

Both promise to break with the statist model established by Evo Morales. Under his presidency (2006-2019), poverty declined and GDP tripled, but the fall in gas revenues since 2017 has plunged the country into crisis. Targeted by an arrest warrant in a child trafficking case that he contests , the former coca growers' union leader now lives secluded in his stronghold in the center of the country.