LatinNews Daily - 10 November 2025

Bolivia: On 31 October Bolivia’s then President-elect Rodrigo Paz met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington to mark the start of a “new era” in bilateral relations ahead of Paz assuming office on 8 November. In a post on X, the office for the president-elect expressed the incoming administration’s desire to improve relations with the US based on “strengthening dialogue, cooperation, and mutual understanding” between the two nations. In an official press release, the State Department affirmed the US’ “commitment to a strong partnership with Bolivia rooted in mutual prosperity”. The meeting with Rubio occurred alongside the president-elect’s visits to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, as Paz seeks to stabilise Bolivia’s fiscal and monetary crisis during the first months of his tenure. The centre-right Paz scored a surprise victory in Bolivia’s presidential election on 19 October. The result came alongside the electoral collapse of the once hegemonic Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party following a bitter factional split between former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) and his successor Luis Arce (2020-2025). The collapse of the MAS, historically sceptical of US influence in the region, has opened the door for Bolivia’s rapprochement with Washington and raised the prospect of the return of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), expelled in 2008, to the country. Morales, whose call for voters to spoil their ballots drew 22% in the first round, expressed his concerns over Paz’s pivot to the US, declaring in a social media post on 31 October that Paz was choosing to change a foreign policy rooted in “sovereignty and multilateralism for a line of dependence and complacency”. He added that, “the price of his administration should not be renouncing the dignity and sovereignty of the people and the homeland”.

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