Rodrigo Paz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Paz in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 68th President of Bolivia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 8 November 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vice President | Edmand Lara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Luis Arce | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Rodrigo Paz Pereira (1967-09-22)22 September 1967 (age 58) Santiago de Compostela, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | PDC (2019; since 2025)[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | MIR–FRI (2002–2005) PODEMOS (2005–2008) CC (2020–2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Maria Elena Urquidi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Jaime Paz Zamora | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Víctor Paz Estenssoro (great-uncle) Xosé Manuel Beiras (uncle-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | San Ignacio School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | American University (BIGS,MPM) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rodrigo Paz Pereira (Spanish pronunciation:[roˈðɾiɣoˈpaspeˈɾejɾa]; born 22 September 1967) is a Bolivian politician andinternationalist who has served as the 68thpresident of Bolivia since 2025. The eldest son of former presidentJaime Paz Zamora and great-nephew of presidentVíctor Paz Estenssoro, he served as asenator forTarija from 2020 to 2025. He also previously served as mayor ofTarija from 2015 to 2020 and as a member of theChamber of Deputies from 2002 to 2010, representing his father'sRevolutionary Left Movement (MIR).
Born in Spain, Paz graduated fromAmerican University inWashington, D.C., and joined the government ofHugo Banzer in various diplomatic positions. He was first elected to theChamber of Deputies in the2002 as part of the MIR, serving until 2010. Following the dissolution of MIR, Paz entered the local field of his family's political stronghold,Tarija, serving as President of the Municipal Council from 2010 to 2015 and as Mayor of Tarija from 2015 to 2020. In 2020, he was elected assenator for Tarija as part of theCivic Community party.
In the2025 general election, Paz ran as the candidate for president of theChristian Democratic Party, with former police officerEdmand Lara as his running mate. Initially third in polls behind businessmanSamuel Doria Medina and former presidentJorge Quiroga, Paz placed first in the election's first round in anupset that marked the end ofMAS's 20-year dominance in the country. Paz went on to defeat Quiroga in asecond round run-off, the first time in the country's history that the mechanism had been used.
Paz's political positions have been described ascentrist andpopulist, aligning with Quiroga onwarmer relations with theUnited States for economic aid and reduction in government spending while seeking to implement these to a more moderate degree. Upon Paz's victory, Quiroga and his Libre coalition have pledged "unconditional support" to Paz's government. Upon assuming office, Paz has pledged to resolve a socioeconomic crisis inherited from his predecessorLuis Arce by replenishing foreign currency reserves and ending shortages of gasoline and diesel.
Rodrigo Paz Pereira was born on 22 September 1967 inSantiago de Compostela, in Spain,[1] the first-born son of Carmen Pereira Carballo, a native of Spain,[2] and Bolivian then-exiled nationalJaime Paz Zamora. Via his mother's side, he is the cousin of actressCamila Bossa [gl],[3] while his auntAurichu Pereira [gl] was married to politicianXosé Manuel Beiras until her death in 2023.[4] Rodrigo Paz is related toJosé María Paz, an Argentine general during theArgentine War of Independence and theArgentine Civil Wars.[1]
Paz spent his childhood and adolescence inpolitical exile, a by-product of his father's political activity during the military dictatorships of the 1970s and early 1980s. He studied in numerousJesuit schools in several countries, and when democracy was re-established in Bolivia, he attended theSan Ignacio School in La Paz. Later, Paz studied atAmerican University in Washington, D.C., United States, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in international relations with a major in economics and a master's in political management.[5] During the second presidency ofHugo Banzer—whose government was supported by the MIR—he worked as a commercial attaché at the Bolivian Embassy in Spain and served aschargé d'affaires to theWorld Trade Organization.[6]
Together with his brother, Jaime Paz Pereira, he was one of the so-called "political heirs" of the country, a group of younger statesmen whose political careers had been facilitated by their connections to the country's prominent party leaders. In the2002 general elections, the MIR nominated Paz as its candidate forTarija in circumscription 49 (Avilés-Méndez), a major stronghold of support for the party. Winning the seat with a comfortable majority, he was elected to represent the district for the2002–2007 National Congress.[6][7] Though thesignificant social conflicts of the time culminated in the collapse of the traditional party system, Paz's already-established political career survived. When the legislature's mandate was shortened by two years, he was presented by a diminished MIR as its candidate for Tarija in circumscription 46 (Cercado) for the2005 general elections, in alliance withSocial Democratic Power ofJorge Quiroga.[8][9]
By August 2006, the inability of the MIR to achieve the required 2% vote threshold in that year'sconstituent assembly elections led to the loss of its national registration.[10] With that, Paz joined the ranks of United to Renew (UNIR), led by the ex-Mirista and Tarija mayor Óscar Montes. In the2010 regional elections, he headed UNIR's list of councillors in Tarija in support of Montes's bid for a third mayoral term.[11] From 2010 to 2015, he served under Montes as the president of the Tarija Municipal Council and was nominated to succeed Montes as UNIR's mayoral candidate in the2015 regional elections. Paz swept the race, winning almost 60% of the city's votes.[12][13]
At his mayoral inauguration on 30 May 2015, Montes highlighted that "it has been the MIR, then UNIR, who will govern Tarija for twenty consecutive years".[14] However, Paz's own political project, focused on "rescuing the greatMirista root" of his father's party,[15] ultimately resulted in the rupture of his alliance with Montes and his departure from UNIR just a year into his term, under accusations that he was trying to "destroy UNIR in order to structure the Revolutionary Left Movement".[16][17] The culmination of Paz's political project came on 3 April 2019 with the establishment of theFirst the People (Primero la Gente; PG) civic group. With himself at the head, PG aimed at consolidating municipal and departmental sectors into a political alliance whose "ideology is the people".[18]
After the2019 political crisis, Paz's mayoral term was extended by an additional year.[19] However, he cut it short by tendering his resignation on 20 October 2020 to take office in thePlurinational Legislative Assembly.[20] After four days of debate, the Municipal Council voted to accept Paz's resignation and elected its president, Alfonso Lema, as his successor.[21]
In February 2024, the Departmental Prosecutor's Office of Tarija formally charged Paz with alleged irregularities related to the 4 de Julio Bridge, a public works project awarded during his tenure as mayor. The bridge—now widely referred to as the "Million-Dollar Bridge" (Puente Millonario)—was contracted forBs 73.2 million in 2018, during Paz's administration, and according to its contract, was set to be delivered within 900 calendar days, on 25 December 2020. However, several orders extended the deadline well into 2021, at which point fines began to be levied, before Paz's successor as mayor Jhonny Torres terminated the contract with the company Convisa on 12 August 2022 due to the company's failure to meet deadlines.[22] The bridge was completed in November 2024 by Torres's administration, when Paz was no longer in office.[23] The case was brought forward following a complaint by Torres and is being handled by the Fourth Anti-Corruption Court of Tarija.[22]
In the2019 general elections, PG signed an alliance with theChristian Democratic Party (PDC), which presented Paz's father, ex-president Jaime Paz Zamora, as its presidential candidate.[24] However, shortly thereafter, Paz Zamora withdrew his candidacy due to internal disagreements with the PDC, leading Paz to shift his support toCarlos Mesa ofCivic Community (CC).[25][26] On 3 February 2020, PG finalized an alliance with CC, presenting Paz as the coalition's candidate for first senator for Tarija.[27][28]
During his tenure, Paz was a vocal proponent of census reform in light of the process scheduled for late2022. In January of that year, Paz presented a bill to establish Departmental Institutes of Statistics (IDEs), aimed at generating departmental, municipal, and regional statistical information. If passed, the legislation would have decentralized the census process —overseen by theNational Institute of Statistics (INE)— which Paz assured would make the 2022 census "a census of the people".[29] Paz also criticized a lack of transparency regarding what preparations and activities were underway to carry out the census. On 7 February, the CC caucus delivered a petition to theMinistry of Development Planning requesting a report on planned activities. By early March, CC noted that it had not received a response so far. Failing the creation of IDEs due to a lack of time to establish such institutions, Paz also proposed the formation of inter-institutional monitoring committees made up of governorates, municipalities, universities, regional chambers, social organizations, and other relevant groups to guarantee transparency in the process.[30]
He was assigned to the following commissions:
Paz was named theChristian Democratic Party's nominee for president for the2025 general election.[33] With around 32% of the vote, he placed first in the first round of voting on 17 August[34] and won a run-off against former president Jorge Quiroga on 19 October with 54.5% of the vote.[35] He was congratulated by U.S. Secretary of StateMarco Rubio and Israeli foreign ministerGideon Sa'ar.[36][37] Argentine presidentJavier Milei congratulated Paz and said that he put an end to "20 years of the failure of thesocialism of the 21st century" and his security minister,Patricia Bullrich, said it would be beneficial for Bolivia to terminate its agreements withIran.[38][39]
Paz was inaugurated as president on 8 November 2025. The event was attended by state representatives from various countries, including (in order of mention): Argentine presidentJavier Milei, Chilean presidentGabriel Boric, Ecuadorian presidentDaniel Noboa, Paraguayan presidentSantiago Peña, Uruguayan presidentYamandú Orsi, former German presidentChristian Wulff, Brazilian vice presidentGeraldo Alckmin, Costa Rican vice presidentMary Munive, Salvadoran vice presidentFélix Ulloa, and European Commission vice presidentTeresa Ribera, among others.[40] Also his father, former president Jaime Paz Zamora, attended the swearing-in ceremony of his son in thePlurinational Legislative Assembly.[41]
During his inauguration speech, Paz launched an emergency operation that allowed 900 tanker trucks from outside Bolivia carrying gasoline and diesel to enter the country, in order to solve Bolivia's fuel shortage problem. A convoy led by Paz of the first 40 of these trucks entered Bolivia by way of Paraguay the next day.[42][43] On 10 November, Paz asked theArmed Forces of Bolivia not to allow fuel entering Bolivia to be smuggled to other countries.[44]
Unlike previous governments, Rodrigo Paz's government does not include any figures from indigenous movements or trade union and peasant organizations.[45] Most ministers have spent their careers in international financial institutions, development agencies, or the private sector, and only three are women.[45][46]
The Ministry of the Environment is being abolished.[47]
In response tofloods inSamaipata,Santa Cruz, Paz announced US$380,000 in humanitarian aid and the creation of an emergency commission to address the disaster.[48][49]
On 20 November, Paz faced his first major crisis of his administration when he dismissed Freddy Vidovic asMinister of Justice, the latter having only served for 12 days in the role, after it was discovered that he had a judicial sentence against him for three years in prison. This created tensions between Paz and Lara, since Vidovic is the latter's personal lawyer. Later that day, Paz appointed Jorge Garcia as Minister of Justice, but soon abolished the Ministry outright, fulfilling one of his main campaign promises.[50]
On 23 December, Paz signed a decree lifting restrictions on international satellite companies imposed by the Arce administration.[51]
On 9 January 2026, Mauricio Aramayo, an aide to Paz and former Tarija director of the National Service of Agricultural Health and Food Safety (SENASAG), was assassinated by two individuals who threatened Aramayo after he refused to accept a bribe the assailants offered him. He initially survived the shooting and was rushed to the hospital, but died there.[52] Aramayo was the departmental director of the PDC during the first and second rounds of the presidential election, and was planning to run for governor of Tarija department in the 2026 Bolivian regional elections; Aramayo had resigned his role from SENASAG after mere weeks on the job so he could run in the gubernatorial election. Two women and one man were arrested in connection with the shooting that occurred in the El Molino neighborhood of Tarija city.[53]
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Amid efforts to repair relations with the United States, the U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration was allowed back into Bolivia after having been expelled from the country in 2008, with a particular focus on thecoca-producingChapare Province.[54] On 2 December 2025, Paz's government granted visa-free entry for up to 90 days for citizens of the United States, Israel, South Korea, and South Africa, reversing restrictions imposed by the MAS government in 2007.[55]Relations between Bolivia and Israel, which were severed following the start of theGaza war in 2023, were also restored under Paz.[56][57]
The government of Paz has vowed to distance Bolivia from the governments ofCuba,Nicaragua, andVenezuela.[58] Paz has proposed to resetrelations with Chile but maintained a firm stance on Bolivia's claim for sovereign access to thePacific Ocean.[59] Paz met with Argentine presidentJavier Milei on the day of his inauguration, improvingrelations with Argentina, which had taken a strong position against President Arce and former President Morales.[60][61]
On 4 January, one day after theUnited States captured Nicolás Maduro, Bolivia imposed travel restrictions on members of the security forces of Venezuela, as well as Venezuelan officials and former officials of the Maduro government.[62] With regard to the strikes, Paz stated that "freedom is not negotiable" and that "the way out for Venezuela is to respect the vote."[63]
Rodrigo Paz is seen asconservative,[64] pro-Third Way,[65][66] andpopulist.[67] Economically, he advocates for "capitalism for all", a socioeconomic plan seen by observers as being pro-free market,[68][69][70][71] pro-privatization, and largely in favor ofdecentralization,[72] while still arguing in favor of social spending.[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83] Paz himself said that he supportspragmatism.[84]
| Year | Office | Party | Alliance | Votes | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | |||||||
| 2002 | Deputy | Revolutionary Left Movement | MIR-FRI | 11,564 | 44.81% | 1st | Won | ||
| 2005 | Revolutionary Left Movement | Social Democratic Power | 10,656 | 41.82% | 1st | Won | |||
| 2010 | Councillor | United to Renew | None | 43,402 | 48.38% | 1st[b] | Won | ||
| 2015 | Mayor | United to Renew | None | 70,231 | 59.82% | 1st | Won | ||
| 2020 | Senator | First the People | Civic Community | 150,405 | 50.24% | 1st[b] | Won | ||
| 2025 | President | PDC | None | 1,717,432 | 32.06 | 1st | Runoff | ||
| None | 3,506,458 | 54.89 | 1st | Won | |||||
| Source:Plurinational Electoral Organ |Electoral Atlas | |||||||||
El TCP indicó que la extensión del mandato también se aplicará a los integrantes de la Asamblea Legislativa, a los alcaldes y gobernadores del país.
Current heads of state of South American countries | |
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