LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s presidential vote is headed to an unprecedented runoff after Sunday's election ended over two decades of ruling party dominance in the Andean nation.
A centrist lawmaker from a prominent political family, Sen. Rodrigo Paz, and a right-wing former president, Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, will face off in October after a first round of voting knocked out candidates allied with the nation’s long-dominant Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party.
Paz, a former mayor, campaigned with the slogan “Capitalism for all” — rejecting the statist policies of MAS while pitching a more inclusive approach to rescuing Bolivia from its worst economic crisis in four decades. He has promised to lower tariffs, reduce taxes and make small loans more accessible for entrepreneurs.