Bolivia: On 22 October US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Bolivia’s President-elect Rodrigo Paz on the phone to “congratulate him on his historic election” in the 19 October second round of Bolivia’s presidential race. Rubio emphasised that the victory of Paz, of the centre-right Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC), was a “transformative opportunity for Bolivia”, following nearly two decades of socialist rule by the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). Rubio added that the US was willing to partner with Bolivia “to encourage economic security and prosperity” and pledged US support “to combat transnational criminal organizations that threaten our hemisphere”. Indeed, the previous day, the US State Department had issued a joint statement with the governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad & Tobago, saying that they “stand ready to support the incoming administration’s efforts to stabilize Bolivia’s economy and open it to the world”. The statement also said the governments were ready to reinforce Bolivia’s “democratic institutions, boost international trade and investment, and deepen its engagement with regional and global partners on a wide range of important issues”. Following his election, Paz pledged to restore Bolivia’s relations with the US, which has not had an ambassador in the country since 2008, when then-president Evo Morales (2006-2019) expelled the US ambassador at the time, Philip Goldberg, accusing him of spying.
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