The initial results from Bolivia's closely watched presidential election on Monday underscored a broader trend unfolding across Latin America: a sharp shift away from the socialist left that once dominated the region, toward right-of-center leaders — often with strikingly unconventional styles — who are driving major political change.
After 20 years of socialism under Presidents Evo Morales and Luis Arce, both affiliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS) Party, voters gave the top two spots in the initial balloting to center-right Sen. Rodrigo Paz (32%) and stalwart conservative former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga (28%).
Bolivians are expected to choose between the two in a runoff election on Oct. 19.
Coming after the 2023 election of Argentina's Javier Milei as the world's first libertarian president and the victory earlier this year of Ecuador's "law and order" President Daniel Noboa, a triumph in October by either Paz or Quiroga would be the latest example of Latin Americans fed up with inflation, corruption, and crime — and eager to try something different.
Already eyes on the Southern Hemisphere are increasingly on upcoming elections in Chile (Nov. 16), in which Johannes Kaiser, dubbed the "Ron Paul of Chile" for his libertarian views, is running neck and neck with liberal Providencia Mayor Evelyn Matthei; and Honduras, where former Tegucigalpa Mayor and conservative Nasry Asfura is the front-runner in a three-way race.
"What happened in Bolivia is similar to what happened in Argentina," attorney Ignacio Jauregui, former Minister Counselor of the Bolivian Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS), told Newsmax. "The economy was the key factor, with inflation at over 15% [up from 5.1% in 2024] and natural gas production and exports [both the major sources of U.S. dollars] declining."
He added that "[outgoing President] Arce's cronies stole so much that investors could not buy enough to sustain the market here."
Fighting corruption was clearly a major issue fueling Paz's ascent from long shot to top vote-getter. Jauregui and other commentators — including those speaking to Newsmax — noted that Paz's selection of former Police Captain Edman Lara, who was suspended and ultimately dismissed after blowing the whistle on corruption, proved pivotal to his surge in popularity.
"The good news is the evident weariness of the Bolivian voter with socialism," Dardo Lopez-Dolz, Senior Fellow at the Center for A Free Secure Society and former Peruvian Minister of the Interior, told Newsmax. "Even the surprising final result, with Rodrigo Paz, who also based his message on a conservative but more tolerant discourse, finishing first for the runoff reflects that sentiment."
Lopez-Dolz added that the trend that Argentina, Ecuador, and now Bolivia "is regional and can clearly be seen in Chile and quite likely in the Peruvian elections next year."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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