BOLIVIA ELECTION RESULTS- The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced Rodrigo Paz as winner in the preliminary results
Bolivia’s election winner Rodrigo Paz said on Sunday (October 19) he will end the fuel shortage gripping the country after winning 54.5% of the vote, defeating his opponent Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.
Paz spoke after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced preliminary results and Quiroga conceded defeat.
The 58-year-old senator’s win marks a historic shift for the South American country, governed almost continuously since 2006 by Bolivia’s Movement to Socialism, or MAS, which once enjoyed overwhelming support from the country’s Indigenous majority.
Bolivia’s fragile economy dominated the runoff campaign. Once plentiful natural gas exports have plummeted, inflation is at a 40-year high, with fuel reportedly scarce.
In late September, Paz unveiled plans for a $1.5 billion economic cooperation deal with U.S. officials to ensure fuel supplies.
The new president takes office on November 8.
