Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: Bolivia’s elections boot the socialist ruling party, the United States deploys warships off the coast of Venezuela, and a salacious Brazilian song charms the Middle East.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: Bolivia’s elections boot the socialist ruling party, the United States deploys warships off the coast of Venezuela, and a salacious Brazilian song charms the Middle East.

By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.

✓ Signed Up

Over the past 20 years, the leadership of most Latin American democracies has swung back and forth between the political left and right. Bolivia was a unique case: Barring an inconclusive 2019 election, former President Evo Morales’s Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party won all national leadership contests during that period.

But MAS’s control of Bolivian politics ended decisively on Sunday. In general elections, right-wing lawmakers swept into the legislature, and the presidential contest advanced to an Oct. 19 runoff between a centrist and a right-wing candidate.

Pollsters widely expected MAS to lose. Bolivia is experiencing an economic crisis, with more than 20 percent annual inflation. The party was also split by infighting: Morales told his followers to spoil their ballots rather than vote for the MAS candidate, Eduardo Del Castillo. Morales himself had tried to run despite exceeding term limits and was blocked by a court.

Sunday’s vote did introduce a surprise. Many preelection polls suggested that two right-wing candidates would proceed to a runoff. In the end, only one of those advanced: former President Jorge Quiroga, who served from 2001 to 2002. A late surge in support propelled the more moderate Sen. Rodrigo Paz ahead of Quiroga and kept the other right-wing candidate out of the runoff.

Paz has embraced both left-wing and right-wing identities throughout his career. In this election, he pitched himself as a centrist. Rather than echoing Quiroga’s pledge to seek an International Monetary Fund bailout, for example—which typically implies harsh austerity requirements—Paz has promoted an agenda that he calls “capitalism for everyone,” or cutting red tape for businesses and issuing new........

© Foreign Policy