Key Trends for the Third MAS Government, Bolivia 2015-2019

Abstract

This presentation takes into account the 2006 Plan for National Development and aims at highlighting some of the successes in the presidency of Evo Morales as well as the challenges for his third period of government (2015-2019). It begins by reviewing basic demographic information, according to the 2012 Census, and then focuses on the economy: hydrocarbons, mining, agricultural production and the issue of ecology. The quinoa boom, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and  the suspension of the construction of a highway through TIPNIS are some of the topics reviewed. Internationally, there are reasons for optimism in relation to Bolivia’s demand for access to the sea, while nationally, MAS secured a congressional victory in the 2014 elections. Reforms in the judiciary are the least successful. The presentation ends with an update on social movements that have allowed the formation of the Constituent Assembly, and on the question of municipal, departmental and indigenous autonomies.