Support For Bolivia's Ex-President: Gauging The Sentiment

Bolivia's former president, Evo Morales, was the 65th president of Bolivia and served from 2006 to 2019. Morales is a Bolivian politician, trade unionist, and former cocalero activist. He is widely regarded as the country's first president to come from its indigenous population. Morales' supporters laud him as a champion of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism. They credit him with overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. However, critics point to democratic backsliding during his tenure and argue that his policies sometimes failed to reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric.

Evo Morales' popularity

Evo Morales, the 65th president of Bolivia, is a highly controversial figure in Bolivian politics. Morales, who served as president from 2006 to 2019, is widely regarded as the country's first indigenous president, and his administration worked towards the implementation of left-wing policies that focused on the legal protections and socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's previously marginalized indigenous population. Morales' supporters laud him as a champion of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism, and he has been credited with overseeing significant economic growth, poverty reduction, and increased investment in social infrastructure.

Morales' popularity was evident in his successful re-election campaigns in 2009 and 2014, as well as in his implementation of progressive policies that improved the living conditions of Bolivia's indigenous communities. During his presidency, Bolivia experienced unprecedented economic growth, with the income from hydrocarbon extraction increasing from $173 million in 2002 to $1.3 billion by 2006. Morales' administration also introduced non-contributory old-age pensions, payments to mothers, and initiatives such as the Bono Juancito Pinto program, which provided $29 per year to parents who kept their children in public school.

However, Morales' popularity was not without its challenges. Critics point to democratic backsliding during his tenure, arguing that his policies sometimes failed to reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric. There were also accusations of Morales facilitating a "narco-state" due to his links with coca farming and alleged links with the illegal cocaine trade. Additionally, his defense of coca contributed to illegal cocaine production, and his government faced criticism for a lack of economic diversification.

Morales' resignation in 2019 amid allegations of electoral fraud and subsequent exile further highlight the contentious nature of his presidency. Despite this, Morales remains a significant figure in Bolivian politics, with his supporters rallying outside the presidential palace during a failed coup attempt in 2024.

Luis Arce's popularity

Luis Arce is the 67th and current president of Bolivia, having assumed office on 8 November 2020. He is the incumbent after Evo Morales, who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019.

Arce's popularity is a complex issue. On the one hand, he has struggled with Bolivia's shortages of foreign currency and fuel, and his popularity has plunged as the country's foreign currency reserves dwindle, its natural gas exports plummet, and its currency peg to the US dollar collapses. However, Arce has also enjoyed moments of strong public support. For example, after a failed coup attempt in June 2024, Bolivians rallied behind the president, with thousands of supporters surging into the streets, chanting, and setting off fireworks. This eruption of public support, although perhaps fleeting, provided Arce with a reprieve from the country's economic and political turmoil.

Arce's popularity is also impacted by his rivalry with former president Evo Morales, who has threatened to challenge Arce in the 2025 election. Morales' supporters laud him as a champion of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism, and he was credited with overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. However, critics point to democratic backsliding during Morales' tenure, arguing that his policies sometimes failed to reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric and that his defense of coca contributed to illegal cocaine production.

Overall, Luis Arce's popularity is difficult to measure, as it fluctuates depending on various factors, including his handling of the economy, public perceptions of his rivalry with Evo Morales, and his ability to navigate political turmoil, such as coup attempts.

The Bolivian people's support for Evo Morales' policies

Evo Morales, an Aymara man, was the first Indigenous President of Bolivia, a majority-Indigenous country, from 2005/2006-2019. Morales and his political party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), promised to centre Indigenous concerns in Bolivia’s foreign policy by championing pro-environmental policies, nationalising natural resources, and breaking ties with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank.

Morales' supporters laud him as a champion of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism. Morales was also credited with overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.

Morales' administration worked towards the implementation of left-wing policies, focusing on the legal protections and socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's previously marginalized indigenous population and combating the political influence of the United States and resource-extracting multinational corporations. Morales' policies included:

• Increasing taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to bolster social spending.
• Projects to combat illiteracy, poverty, and racial and gender discrimination.
• Moving Bolivia towards a mixed economy, reducing its dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Opposing the autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces.
• Instituting a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state.
• Nationalising the gas fields and oil industry.
• Implementing land reform.
• Redistributing money from Bolivian gas extraction more equally.
• Signing Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
• Supporting the legalisation of coca.

The Bolivian people's support for Luis Arce's policies

Luis Arce, the incumbent president of Bolivia, assumed office on 8 November 2020. Arce is the 67th president of Bolivia and the first President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Arce's policies have garnered support from the Bolivian people, who rallied outside his palace after a failed coup attempt in June 2024. The coup was led by the army chief, Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, and former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador, who were arrested along with 15 others. The coup was a response to Arce's struggle to manage the country's shortages of foreign currency and fuel.

Arce's supporters chanted, "Lucho, you are not alone!" with "Lucho" being a common nickname for Luis, also meaning "fight" in Spanish. Arce roared back, "No one can take democracy away from us."

Arce's policies have been a source of reprieve for the Bolivian people, who have been facing an economic quagmire and political turmoil. However, Arce's popularity has plunged due to the dwindling foreign currency reserves, plummeting natural gas exports, and the collapsing currency peg to the US dollar.

The Bolivian people's support for Evo Morales' socialist policies

Evo Morales, Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent, led the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party from 1998 to 2016. Morales focused on promoting the rights of the Aymara people and implementing socialist policies.

Morales' socialist policies were largely focused on reducing poverty and the influence of the USA in Bolivia. He increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to fund social spending, with projects aimed at combating illiteracy, poverty, and racial and gender discrimination. Morales also sought to reduce Bolivia's dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Morales' supporters laud him as a champion of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism. During his presidency, Bolivia experienced significant economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.

However, critics argue that Morales' policies did not always reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric. They also point to democratic backsliding during his tenure and argue that his defence of coca production contributed to illegal cocaine manufacturing.

Despite these criticisms, Morales remains popular among Bolivia's poor and indigenous communities, who felt marginalized by previous governments. His policies gave these communities a sense of dignity and destiny, and they continue to support his socialist agenda.

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