The Bolivian leader faces a new electoral challenge in a scenario marked by political tensions and a ballot that will define the course of the country.
Jorge “Tuto” Quirogaformer president of Bolivia and current alliance candidate Freedom and democracyprepare to play a ballot on October 19 in front of Rodrigo Paz Pereira. At 64 and with a long political career, he seeks to return to power After the fall of movement to socialism (more)which held power two decades.
With the 26.8% of the votesQuiroga managed to get into the second round compared to 32.2% reached by Paz Pereira. The former Bolivian president, who governed between 2001 and 2002now proposes a deep turn under the slogan of “#Cambioradical”which points to fiscal discipline, digitalization of the State and openness towards international trade.
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“I am a man of freedom, of free trade”Quiroga said in an interview with CNN, where he also defended “Chainsaw, machete, scissors and everything you find” To cut superfluous expenses. With this message seeks to capture the vote of tired sectors of the state bureaucracy and the current model.
Who is Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga
Born in Cochabamba in 1960, he studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas and obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration. He started his career at IBM before returning to Bolivia in 1988, when he joined Nationalist democratic action (DNA)the match founded by Hugo Banzer.
His political ascent was meteoric: in 1989 he already held a position in the Ministry of Planning And, in 1992, he was appointed finance minister During the government of Jaime Paz Zamora. In 1997, Banzer chose him as his Vice Presidentposition he assumed at 37, becoming the youngest in the history of the country. Four years later, Banzer’s resignation for health reasons He took him to the presidency.
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Its 2001-2002 management was marked by the “Tuto Plan”an emergency program to generate employment, and for the continuity of the eradication of coca crops. Although brief, he positioned him as a reference of the Bolivian right.
Then he tried to return to power several times: In 2005 it obtained 28% in front of Evo Morales, In 2014 it fell to 9% and in 2020 retired before the elections. In parallel, he consolidated himself as a fierce critic of the MAS. “A long night of two decades ended,” he celebrated after knowing the results of the first round of this year.
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In the international sand, He aligned with opponents to regimes such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaraguaand in 2019 he was appointed special delegate to the international community by the interim president Jeanine Áñez.
Today it is presented with the promise of drastically trimming the bureaucracy, promoting agreements with international organizations and “Buy” definitely to the MAS. In his campaign closure in El Alto, he even appealed to faith and mountaineering: “You vote for me, make me president, me president, We are going to thank God Almighty reaching the top of Huayna Potosí. ”
Source: Ambito
