Bolivia rejects dominant left-wing leadership in first round of state elections

[Desmond Milligan 0]

A centrist and a center-right candidate made it through the first round of Bolivia’s presidential election, which was marked by voters’ rejection of the ruling left-wing party.

The Movement Toward Socialism has ruled Bolivia for almost two decades since Evo Morales became president in 2006: It initially benefitted from a commodities boom that fed a surge in government spending, but as energy prices fell and state coffers dried up, the government piled up debt in a failed bid to revive economic growth.

The two successful candidates, who will face each other in an October runoff, have both vowed to slash spending. “People have generally stopped believing in socialism,” a former Morales voter told The Wall Street Journal.

A chart showing Bolivia’s debt as a share of GDP.

— Jeronimo Gonzalez

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