Crisis has not stopped and tends to worsen | Crisis no se ha detenido y tiende a agudizarse

By El Diario:

Julio Alvarado, analista y docente universitario.

Analyst warns

  • Bolivia is in a deep crisis that has not stopped; rather, the situation continues to deteriorate every day, analysts warn.
  • There is growing concern over contradictions regarding the government’s admission that it is living “day to day” when it comes to dollars for fuel imports and debt payments, while continuing to deny the existence of a crisis.
  • Lawmakers claim that recent statements from the current President—who previously served as Minister of Economy—only confirm that “Masismo” led the country into economic collapse.

Echoing opinions that view recent statements by President Luis Arce Catacora as a confession of the country’s delicate economic state, analyst and university professor Julio Alvarado stated that the president contradicts himself by denying the crisis while acknowledging uncertainty over the internal fuel supply, a situation that only points to a worsening of the problem.

According to Alvarado, the only noteworthy point in Arce’s remarks is that the country’s economic fragility has finally been acknowledged; however, it is troubling that the nation’s highest authority admits they are living “day to day” in terms of dollars for fuel imports and debt payments, while continuing to deny the crisis.

“Arce finally admitted that Bolivia is facing a very difficult and harsh economic situation, to the point that we don’t have dollars, and the government cannot guarantee when the purchase of gasoline and diesel will normalize to supply the internal market,” he remarked.

Furthermore, reiterating that the crisis caused by twenty years of “Masismo” in power and the implementation of misguided public economic policies cannot be resolved overnight—or by fast-tracking international credit approvals in the Legislative Assembly—Alvarado warned that the outlook is only worsening.

“Bolivia is now in a deep economic crisis, and this has not stopped. Rather, the situation deteriorates more with each passing day,” he said.

As an example, the specialist referred to the amount of dollars the country needs weekly to import diesel and gasoline compared to the new loans being debated in the Legislative Assembly, which only provide foreign currency to meet demand for a couple of months and do not guarantee the issue will be resolved or normalized by year-end.

“If every week we need a certain amount of dollars to purchase fuel and we don’t have that money, the situation is critical. The loans being approved won’t last until the end of the year. Everything they’re approving will only cover a few months, while other products like medicines and industrial supplies are not included in these loans,” he stated.

This week, during an interview on the show Fama, Poder y Ganas, President Luis Arce admitted that the country is living “day to day” in terms of dollars—foreign currency entirely allocated to fuel purchases and debt repayment. The president once again blamed the Legislative Assembly for obstructing credit approvals.

“Today we live day to day. All the dollars we have are basically for fuel, to pay the debt, and all of that. There’s nothing left to physically face the exchange market additionally,” he said.

According to Arce, if the Assembly had approved the loans in time, these problems could have been avoided. However, he now claims it is too late: “Even if today or tomorrow they approve the 1.8 billion dollars sitting in the Assembly, the issue won’t be resolved because the funds don’t arrive immediately, but gradually.”

Lawmakers such as Alejandro Reyes from La Paz affirmed that the president’s recent statements—coming from someone who was Minister of Economy and is now Head of State—only confirm that “Masismo” brought the country into economic collapse.

“It’s a fundamental confession: Arce admits that he led Bolivia into economic collapse and that the next government will not have any guarantees of resources,” said the opposition lawmaker, reiterating that the MAS economic model has collapsed and that those responsible must be held accountable before the justice system.

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