The major win of the left party Luis Arce has left Bolivia with a great deal of optimism. However, there are lurking concerns about the outspread of Covid as new cases continue to rise drastically. Anika Khan reports.
In a remarkable turn of events, Luis Arce won Bolivia’s presidential election on 18 October. Luis Arce who is the progressive representative of his party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) beat his rival by 20 points.
Previously, the former president Eco Morales was overthrown in a policy- a military coup that made Jeanine Anez from the rightwing to be the president. This followed by a massacre of unarmed Mas supporters by the security forces. The regime opponents faced charges of sedition and terrorism. Â Â
Violence against the indigenous population increased drastically. The government made major policy changes that seemed to be duplicating Trump’s administration in the USA. They deported over 700 Cuban frontline health doctors. The government tried to establish neoliberal policies and it seemed impossible for a fair democratic election to ever take place.
However, the scenario changed when the working class Bolivians took to streets with blockades and strikes. All these disruptions lead to global scrutiny and created a pressure in the parliament to ensure that a new election takes place where the Mas representatives could compete.
The ruling member of Mas, Luis Arce won the election on 19th October with majority of the people’s votes.
However, there are lurking concerns about the outspread of the pandemic as new cases continue to rise drastically. Bolivia has the world’s largest death rate per capital from Covid. The health minister has been accused of fraud for stealing from the health care system. He has been arrested for these accusations.
Moreover, with a countrywide lockdown in March, little aid was given to support locals and their jobs. As a result, many defied the lockdown which eventually contributed to the virus’s spread. It seems that President Arce needs to source resources and coordinate to contain the virus from spreading.
