Bolivia: How is the country after the first year of the government of Luis Arce?

The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, highlighted on Monday that his Government has been able to fulfill, already in this first year in office, with the commitment to achieve political and social stability for the population, through economic growth, industrialization with substitution of imports and the structural fight against the covid-19 pandemic.

The president stated this during the first ordinary session of the 2021-2022 period of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, a body to which the head of State presented his first governmental management report, the achievements and also the challenges that the country will face until the year 2025, when the Bicentennial of its Independence will be celebrated.

«This November 8 we can say that we are fulfilling the commitment that we acquired with the people: to generate stability, to return to the path of economic growth with social justice», said Arce. In addition – he added – the country is also moving towards «the path of memory, truth and justice» in the face of the events related to the coup that the opposition carried out in 2019, a sector that, for this Monday, called to initiate an «indefinite strike».

In his speech, Arce highlighted that only in the first half of 2021, his country has registered a 459.4% recovery in foreign direct investment (FDI) in relation to the same period of 2020, an achievement that shows that now there is «greater confidence from foreign investors to develop their projects in Bolivian territory», emphasized Arce.

Regarding this, he indicated that the main recipients of FDI have been the oil and gas sector, with more than 187.8 million dollars received. Then there are mining and quarries, with 157.8 million dollars, and the manufacturing industry with 98.6 million, details RT.

Arce explained that in 2020, the image of the country was «deteriorated», as a result of the actions of the de facto government established by Jeanine Áñez between November 2019 and October 2020, after the coup against the then-President Evo Morales. As a result, he said, FDI fell «to the lowest level» in recent years, reaching just $ 162 million.

Recovery of exports and reversal of the economic crisis

The president assured that Bolivia is now progressing on the right track, because it has managed to recover democracy and exports and reverse the economic crisis that the country was plunged into after the coup d’état and the establishment of the de facto government.

In this regard, he stressed that between November 2020 and September 2021, Bolivia achieved a «trade surplus» of 1,576 million dollars, a figure not seen since 2014, and that was achieved thanks to «greater dynamism of exports», that have contributed to the country, a monthly average of income of 866 million dollars.

He recalled that when he took the reins of the government, the country was in a «deep economic crisis» after registering accumulated falls in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of -12.9% and -12.6% during the second and third quarters of 2020. However, from the fourth quarter of 2020, when he assumed his mandate, Bolivia began to experience a “gradual return towards a positive horizon”, which by the second quarter of 2021 registered a cumulative GDP growth of 9.4%.

Arce explained that the reversal of the negative numbers left by Áñez was achieved after the implementation of different measures to «rebuild the economy» and find the «proper management» of the covid-19 pandemic.

«Among the measures adopted, (one was that) as soon as we assumed the National Government, the Productive Community Social Economic Model (MESCP) was immediately reestablished, through the orientation of an economic policy that promotes the dynamism of domestic demand», he said, highlighting the various programs implemented. to combat hunger and falling household income.

Likewise, he highlighted the «urgent» reactivation of public investment, as well as the implementation of the «Tax on Large Fortunes and the VAT refund policy», the «Sí Bolivia» trust for all productive sectors that substitute imports. the Guarantee Fund (Fogadin) to cover the productive needs of the country, housing loans with «social interest», the restart of paralyzed infraestructural works and territorial policies for rural and indigenous areas.

Breakdown of the constitutional order in Bolivia

President Arce also spoke about the negative impact that the de facto regime had in causing historical economic setbacks and the loss of fundamental human rights, such as access to education, sports and health.

«The shift in economic policy towards the return of neoliberalism caused a break in the trajectory of sustained growth in the country, which, accompanied by deficient policies and alien to the national reality, caused an economic crisis», said Arce.

The president said that the breakdown of the constitutional order caused a «historical» contraction of GDP of -8.8%, which has been «the strongest for 67 years».

That circumstance – he specified – occurred in the midst of a series of negative measures such as «the closure of the 2020 Educational Management», which restricted the right to education of millions of children and adolescents, and the elimination of the Ministry of Sports, which the de facto government described as «an absurd expense».

Similarly, Arce said, the public health system was violated, because between November 2019 and October 2020, it registered a marked decrease in medical consultations and interventions, especially for children under two years of age.

«Upon assuming the mandate, the country was mired in a deep health crisis due to the covid-19 pandemic (…) bringing mourning and impotence in the face of a clear inability of the de facto government to handle the health crisis», said Arce.

The head of State said that through the vaccination plan that his government began, the country already has more than 50% of the population vaccinated with two doses against the coronavirus, which caused the lethality of the disease to drop from 6.2 % in March 2020 to 0.96% in November 2021.

In addition, he stressed that now 5.8 million Bolivians are «protected» by the public health system, which is free and treats common and high-cost diseases with medications, surgeries, laboratory or imaging tests and intensive therapy, among other services.

«Our homeland, today more than ever, requires that we be in tune with the feelings of Bolivian families, especially those hardest hit by the crisis, whose economy cannot stop even for a day because that means not bringing food to their families», said Arce, calling on the population to trust the process of change, to rectify «what should be rectified» and to deepen those policies that have been implemented well so as to face «the new challenges».