LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat in Bolivia’s presidential election in August, President Luis Arce, who assumed office in 2020 and was expected to seek a second term, said Tuesday he would withdraw from the race.
The decision, announced in a lengthy late-night televised address, comes as a rift deepens at the top of Bolivia’s governing party, where Arce and his erstwhile ally, former President Evo Morales, struggle for control of their leftist bloc.
“I will not be a factor in dividing the popular vote,” Arce said in his speech, warning that a fragmented base would give Bolivia’s right-wing and centrist parties a shot at power after nearly two decades of socialist rule. “Much less will I facilitate the realization of a fascist right-wing project … that seeks to destroy the productive social economic model.”
The yearslong rivalry between Arce and Morales has been accelerating a slow-burning economic crisis that has working-class voters, who are the core constituency of MAS, up in arms.
Bolivia has gone from exporting natural gas to importing fuel and from boasting one of the region’s lowest inflation rates to struggling with one of its highest. The value of Bolivia’s local currency on the black market is now half the official exchange rate. Fuel shortages paralyze the country. The central bank has effectively run out of dollars.
Many of these problems took root under Arce’s iconic predecessor, Morales, but the majority of voters blame Arce for the economic chaos. Polls indicate that the embattled president has been falling further and further behind his left-wing rivals — Morales and Senate President Andronico Rodríguez.
With the MAS under Arce’s control, Morales was forced to break away and create his own party to host his candidacy.
It’s still unclear whether Rodríguez, a politically savvy 36-year-old from Morales’ rural coca-growing stronghold, will join the MAS ticket or register with another party. The registration deadline is May 19.
Arce’s decision to drop out Tuesday was also seen as a new chapter in his increasingly bitter enmity with Morales, whose renewed campaign pitch plays on nostalgia for the commodities-fueled public investment and falling poverty that characterized much of his almost 14-year tenure, from 2006 to 2019.
“I challenge former President Evo Morales not to insist on running,” Arce said, “because constitutionally he cannot do so and because the dispersion and fragmentation of the vote would favor the right.”
Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, faces numerous obstacles on the road back to his country’s highest office, six years after his bid for an unconstitutional fourth term led to mass protests and self-exile under pressure from the military.
Arce’s government insists that a 2023 constitutional court ruling bars Morales from seeking another term. Ever since a judge ordered Morales’ arrest on charges linked to a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl — allegations that he says are politically motivated — the ex-leader has been hunkered down in a remote tropical corner of Bolivia, protected by legions of fiercely loyal supporters.
Arce appealed to Rodríguez to rally their fractured socialist base against the opposition, leading some analysts to suggest the young, previously little-known politician may emerge as the most likely left-wing candidate.
“The biggest winner is Rodríguez if Morales accepts Arce’s challenge to abandon his aspirations,” said Bolivian political analyst Marcelo Arequipa. “The (MAS party’s) decision is between losing power or remaining in power. Which do they prefer?”
There are at least four opposition candidates but no clear front-runner, paving the way for a tumultuous campaign season ahead of the August 17 election.
