Rodrigo Paz is the president of Bolivia, elected in a run-off on October 19th 2025 with 55% of the vote. He is 58 and the son of Jaime Paz Zamora, a former president. He has been in politics for decades, serving as a centrist senator.
In the first round on August 17th Mr Paz surged from under 10% in polls to take 32% of the vote. His running partner was Edman Lara, a straight-talking outsider who became a popular hero after being fired from the police for denouncing corruption in viral TikTok videos. Together they crisscrossed the country promising "capitalism for all"—protecting MAS social programmes while liberalising the economy and cracking down on corruption. Their support was strongest in the highlands, where indigenous residents of El Alto and other cities who had long voted for the Movement to Socialism (MAS) switched allegiance. In El Alto they took almost 50% of the first-round vote.
Mr Paz claimed an IMF loan would not be needed after his government cut corruption and restored confidence, prompting people to pull dollars out of mattresses. He travelled to Washington before the run-off to begin discussions.
His daughter Catalina Paz is a graduate of Fernando Cerimedo's Numen Academy and now advises his government. Mr Cerimedo worked on media strategy for the Paz campaign and continues to serve as a senior adviser.
In May 2026 dynamite-wielding protesters blockaded La Paz, the seat of government. Food and fuel ran short; banks closed. A batch of adulterated fuel damaged more than 10,000 vehicles. Mr Paz passed an agrarian reform in April that angered indigenous people; he repealed it but the general workers' union and peasant groups demanded his resignation anyway. On May 16th 2026 he sent riot police to clear the roads—more than 150 were arrested—and on May 20th he offered a cabinet shuffle. The IMF reckons Bolivia's economy will contract by 3.3% in 2026 with inflation rising above 20%; the fiscal deficit in the latest budget was still 9% of GDP. Supporters of Evo Morales flocked to La Paz on May 18th 2026 to join the protests.
The time spent on any item of the agenda [of a finance committee] will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.