Bolivia traditionally has maintained normal diplomatic relations with all hemispheric states except Chile. Foreign relations are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,headed by the Chancellor of Bolivia,Rogelio Mayta.
David Choquehuanca Céspedes is a Bolivian diplomat,peasant leader,politician,and trade unionist serving as the 39th vice president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism,he previously served as minister of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2017 and as secretary general of ALBA from 2017 to 2019.
Council of Ministers of Bolivia,or Cabinet of Bolivia,is part of the executive branch of the Bolivian government,consisting of the heads of the variable number of government ministries. The Council of Ministers are ministers of state and conduct the day-to-day business of public administration within Bolivia. The President of Bolivia may freely reorganize the executive branch,with the most recent comprehensive reorganization occurring in February 2009. Since then,the Ministry for the Legal Defense of the State has become the independent office of Solicitor General,and the Ministry of Communication has been created.
Luis Alberto Arce Catacora,often referred to as Lucho,is a Bolivian banker,economist,and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism,he previously served as minister of finance—later minister of economy and public finance—from 2006 to 2017,and in 2019.
General elections were held in Bolivia on 18 October 2020 for President,Vice-President,and all seats in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Luis Arce of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party was elected president in a landslide,winning 55% of the vote and securing majorities in both chambers of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. The results of the election superseded the disputed results of the October 2019 elections,which were annulled during a prolonged political crisis.
The 2019–2020 Mexico–Bolivia diplomatic crisis began on 29 October 2019 when the Mexican government congratulated incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales for his reelection victory. After the election,a preliminary report by the Organization of American States on 9 November reported numerous irregularities in the election,and amid protests and pressure from the Bolivian armed forces and police,Morales was forced to resign.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bolivia on 10 March 2020,when its first two cases were confirmed in the departments of Oruro and Santa Cruz.
Charisse Phillips is an American diplomat serving as the United States Chargéd'affaires to Bolivia between August 2020 –October 2022.
María Nela Prada Tejada is a Bolivian diplomat and politician serving as the minister of the presidency since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism,she served as chief of staff under Luis Arce during his tenure as minister of economy from 2006 to 2017 and in 2019.
Luis Fernando López Julio is a Bolivian businessman,retired military officer,and politician who served as minister of defense from 2019 to 2020. Appointed in the tail end of the 2019 political crisis,López,along with Minister of Government Arturo Murillo,quickly became characterized as the "strong men" of the Jeanine Áñez administration and were implicated in the deadly events at Senkata and Sacaba. López was called to hearings by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly but failed to present himself three consecutive times,ultimately resulting in his censure by the legislature. As per the terms of the Constitution,he was dismissed as minister but,exploiting a loophole in the document's text,he was reappointed just a day later. Soon after,reports revealed his participation in the tear gas case,which accused the ministries of government and defense of irregularly purchasing non-lethal weapons at inflated prices.
The Arce Cabinet constitutes the 222nd cabinet of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. It was formed on 9 November 2020,one day after Luis Arce was sworn in as the 67th president of Bolivia following the 2020 general election,succeeding the Áñez Cabinet. The cabinet is composed entirely of members of the ruling Movement for Socialism. Described as a "technocratic" cabinet,it has been noted for the low-profile and youth of some of its members as well as its political distance from former president Evo Morales.
Adrián Rubén Quelca Tarqui is a Bolivian politician,professor,and trade unionist who served as minister of education from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Communist Party,Quelca worked to implement a project for a "semi-present" school system in which partial in-person learning would be coupled with radio and tele-education. Under his management,schools previously closed early by the past administration were reopened to blended learning for the 2021 year. Despite initial hopes for fully in-person classes by the second half of the year,results never panned out,and his administration was hampered by an ongoing corruption investigation that ultimately culminated in the presentation of charges and his resignation on 12 November 2021.
Cielo Jazmín Veizaga Arteaga is a Bolivian footballer and politician serving as vice minister of sports since 2020. Veizaga's swift rise to fame,joining the country's U20 team at age fourteen and becoming the youngest member of President Luis Arce's administration at nineteen,has been met with acclaim despite accusations of inexperience in her State portfolio.
Events from the year 2022 in Bolivia.
Edgar Pary Chambi is a Bolivian politician and university professor serving as minister of education since 2021. A member of the Movement for Socialism,he previously served as the general director of higher education,technological,linguistic,and artistic techniques within the Ministry of Education and was the department director of education in Potosífrom 2011 to 2012.
María Isabel Fernández Suárez is a Bolivian journalist and politician who served as minister of communication from January to June 2020. Fernández was the final official to serve in that post,with the Ministry of Communication being abolished during her term. She subsequently served as vice minister of communication from June 2020 until the conclusion of the transitional government of Jeanine Áñez in November 2020.
Martha Yujra Apaza is a Bolivian politician and trade unionist who served as minister of cultures and tourism from 2019 to 2020. A prominent trade union leader in El Alto,Yujra was the only indigenous member of the Jeanine Áñez Cabinet and was the final official to head the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism;the institution was abolished during her term. During her tenure,Yujra's office primarily dealt with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural sector,devising means of alleviating the economic ramifications of quarantine measures on artisans and entertainers. She subsequently served as a counselor at the Embassy of Bolivia in Quito from July to November 2020. Prior to serving as minister,Yujra gained notoriety for her fierce opposition to the government of Evo Morales. In 2017,she led a breakaway faction of the pro-government El Alto Regional Workers' Center. As its executive secretary,Yujra aligned the union with the Bolivia Says No alliance,running unsuccessfully to represent La Paz in the Chamber of Deputies in the annulled 2019 general elections.
Romina Guadalupe Pérez Ramos is a Bolivian academic,diplomat,politician,and sociologist who served as ambassador of Bolivia to Iran from 2019 to 2020 and since 2021. A member of the Movement for Socialism,she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba from 2015 to 2019. Pérez graduated as a sociologist from the Higher University of San Simón before completing postgraduate studies in the European Union. She comes from a generation of leftist academics who entered political activity as activists against the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s,as well as the neoliberal democratic governments that succeeded them. Her work in the field of women's and ethnic rights led her to join multiple NGOs,including the Center for Legal Studies and Social Research,through which many academics and intellectuals became politically linked with the Movement for Socialism. In 2014,she won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies on the party's electoral list but did not complete her term,being appointed ambassador to Iran in mid-2019.
Lidia Patty Mullisaca is a Bolivian politician and trade unionist. A member of the Movement for Socialism,Patty represented La Paz in the Chamber of Deputies,first as a substitute alongside Manuel Canelas from 2015 to 2018 and later as a voting member until 2020. She later served as consul of Bolivia to Puno,Peru,in June 2023 and has been vice consul of Bolivia in La Plata,Argentina,since September 2023.
The following is a chronology of notable events from the year 2023 in Bolivia.
