The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic,whereby the president is head of state,head of government and head of a diverse multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature. After the 2014 Bolivian general election,53.1% of the seats in national parliament were held by women,a higher proportion of women than that of the population.
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.
Elizabeth Cristina Salguero Carrillo is a Bolivian diplomat,journalist,politician,and women's rights activist who served as minister of cultures from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Movement for Socialism,she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz from 2006 to 2009. In 2009,she was elected as a substitute party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz but resigned before taking office in order to launch an ultimately unsuccessful La Paz mayoral campaign. From 2012 to 2015,she served as ambassador of Bolivia to Germany,and since then has worked as an international expert in strategic planning at UN Women.
Edmundo Novillo Aguilar is a Bolivian lawyer,politician,and Governor of Cochabamba. His political career includes serving on the Departmental Council,as Mayor of Totora,and as a Deputy in the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies. He was Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies for four years from 2006 to 2010. He is affiliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP),and was the first MAS-IPSP member to serve a President of the Chamber of Deputies.
The Ministry of Cultures,Decolonization,and Depatriarchalization is the ministry of the government of Bolivia that provides for the preservation and protection of the cultures and artistic expressions of the indigenous peoples of Bolivia as well as promotes the country's tourism sector and process of decolonization and depatriarchalization.
NemesiaAchacollo Tola is a Bolivian political and union leader. She served as the Minister of Rural Development and Lands for nearly five years,and is past president of the Bartolina Sisa National Federation of Campesino Women of Bolivia. She was appointed to the Ministry by President Evo Morales in January 2010,following a long career of union leadership in her native Santa Cruz.
The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court of ordinary jurisdiction in Bolivia,based in Sucre. Its powers are set out in Articles 181–185 of the 2009 Constitution and the Law of the Judicial Organ. It was first seated on 2 January 2012.
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.
Lilly Gabriela Montaño Viaña is a Bolivian physician,politician,and former senator. She was the elected President of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly,a position she accepted and would hold until 2020 while still the presidential representative of Santa Cruz de la Sierra for the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party. In 2012,Montaño was made the acting President of Bolivia for a short time. Montaño is a feminist and vocal defender of the rights of the LGBT community. She has been a regular guest and speaker at forums and conferences in different parts of the world. She married Argentine citizen Fabián Restivo,with whom she has had two daughters.
Mariana Prado Noya is a Bolivian business administrator and politician. She served as the Minister of Development Planning from 2017 to 2019,during the third government of Evo Morales.
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.
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.
The 2021 Bolivian regional elections were held on 7 March 2021. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 7 million people. This was the third regional election under the 2009 constitution. It was postponed from the expected date of 2020 due to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis and delays in holding the 2020 Bolivian general election. All elected authorities assumed office on 3 May.
Mario Alberto Guillén Suárez is a Bolivian industrial engineer,lawyer,and politician who served as Minister of Economy and Public Finance from 2017 to 2019 during the administration of Evo Morales. Prior,he was Vice Minister of Pensions and Financial Services from 2009 to 2017 and served as the general manager of the Union Bank in 2019.
The cabinet of Jeanine Áñez constituted the 220th and 221st cabinets of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. It was initially formed on 13 November 2019,a day after Jeanine Áñez was sworn-in as the 66th president of Bolivia following the 2019 political crisis,in which the ruling Movement for Socialism government resigned. A second cabinet was formed on 28 January 2020 with all but three ministers being ratified in their positions.
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.
Ancelma Perlacios Peralta is a Bolivian cocalera activist,politician,and trade unionist who served as senator for La Paz from 2015 to 2020.
María Patricia Arce Guzmán is a Bolivian lawyer and politician serving as senator for Cochabamba since 2020. A member of Movimiento al Socialismo,she also served as mayor of Vinto from 2015 to 2020.
