Bolivian voters look right for economic salvation

BOLIVIA will choose between two right-wing figures in presidential elections on Sunday, ending two decades of socialist rule that has left the beleaguered South American nation deep in the red.

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With no dollars, no fuel, and annual inflation nearing 25%, struggle-weary voters flatly rejected the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party founded by former president Evo Morales, in a first electoral round in August.

On Sunday they will elect one of two die-hard MAS opponents in the hopes of change: Senator Rodrigo Paz or former president Jorge Quiroga.

Either way, the country will bring to an end an economic experiment marked by initial prosperity funded by Morales’s nationalisation of oil and gas, followed by critical shortages of fuel and foreign currency under incumbent Luis Arce.

Bolivia, a lithium-rich country of 11.3 million people, is facing its worst economic crisis in four decades, with long queues a common sight at gas stations or at stores carrying subsidised rice and oil.

“There is desperation; most people live day to day,’ said Pamela Roque, a trained 29-year-old surgical technician who is considering emigrating due to a lack of jobs.

“Things are not going to go well for us here.”