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Bolivia elections: Last push for votes

August 15, 2025

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The Mercury

BOLIVIA'S presidential candidates made a final push for votes on Wednesday ahead of elections on the weekend set to end 20 years of socialist rule.

Two right-wing candidates are leading the race for the first time since 2005 as voters desert the ruling Movement Towards Socialism party, blamed for the country’s deep economic crisis, ahead of Sunday’s vote.

Polls show centre-right business tycoon Samuel Doria Medina and right-wing ex-president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga running neck-and-neck on around 20% each, with six other candidates trailing far behind.

The two frontrunners wrapped up their campaigns with street parades and packed rallies. Doria Medina, who owns Bolivia’s Burger King franchise among other businesses, pledged shock therapy to pull the country back from the brink of default.

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