Census during Morales’ administration was “useless” | Censo durante gestión de Morales fue “inservible”

El Diario:

Quiroga asserts that the Census during Morales’ administration was “useless”

Former President Jorge Quiroga Ramírez.

There is a perception of Morales’ responsibility for the 2012 Census, a measurement lacking final results.

Following the criticisms made by Evo Morales regarding the organization and budget allocated for the execution of the National Population and Housing Census 2024, former President Jorge Quiroga Ramírez rejected the leader of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) making observations when the results of the census conducted during his government are unknown.

Through his social media channels, Quiroga reproached the coca leader for questioning the expenses of the recent Census, stating that he could demand accountability from the current administration. However, there is responsibility on Morales for the 2012 Census, a measurement lacking final results.

“In Bolivia, Evo Morales questions the expenses of the 2024 Census. He should demand accountability from his pupil Arce, but he should also return the $55 million from his 2012 census, which was useless and yielded no final results. With the 1992 census, Participatory Democracy was established, with the 2001 census came Dialogue and the forgiveness of HIPC debt, but with Evo in 2012… nothing,” expressed the former president through his account on the social media platform X.

During his Sunday program aired on radio Kawsachun Coca, Morales questioned the lack of resources allocated for allowances and vests for volunteer census takers, recalling that in 2012, $50 million was budgeted, of which the INE only spent $30 million.

Additionally, he recounted that when he was counted, he was visited by a high school student who lacked an identifying vest; he only had a pencil, an eraser, and the census form to record his data. “Fortunately, it was lunchtime, and we had lunch together,” he recounted.

“Now, they have publicly announced, since 2022, $140 million (…) At some point, they have to be accountable for where the $140 million has gone,” he stated.

In response to these statements, the director of the National Institute of Statistics, Humberto Arandia, affirmed that in the previous census, not the $140 million claimed by Morales was spent, but $68 million, highlighting a substantial difference and stating that the recent census did have updated cartography, unlike in 2012.

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