LatinNews Daily - 23 March 2026

*Bolivia’s electoral authority (OEP) has released the preliminary results of regional and local elections held on 22 March. The results were highly fragmented, with the formerly dominant left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) not competing in the wake of its crushing defeat in last year’s general elections and instead throwing its support behind various left-wing candidates. The centre-right Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC) of President Rodrigo Paz failed to win any governorships or the mayoralties of any departmental capitals. In the gubernatorial elections, only two of the nine contests were on track to be won in the first round, with René Joaquino, of the left-wing Alianza Social (AS), taking nearly 50% of the vote in Potosí department, and Gabriela de Paiva, of the right-wing Libre, on 53% of the vote in Pando department. The gubernatorial elections in Bolivia’s seven other departments are set to go to a second round, held if no candidate wins over 50% of the vote or 40% with a 10-percentage-point lead. In the eastern department of Santa Cruz, the far-right former governor Luis Fernando Camacho (2021-2024, Creemos), who was aiming for a comeback after being released from prison in August last year, was unsuccessful, with the run-off set to be fought between two other right-wingers, Juan Pablo Velasco (Libre) and Otto Ritter (Santa Cruz para Todos, SPT). In the mayoral elections, for which there is only a single round of voting, the picture was similarly fragmented. César Dockweiler, of the centrist Innovación Humana (IH), won in the capital La Paz. In the eponymous capital of Cochabamba department, the right-wing Manfred Reyes Villa (Autonomía para Bolivia – Súmate, APB-S) won another term as mayor. In Santa Cruz city, Manuel Saavedra, of the right-wing VOS, won with over 72%.

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