More than 20 years of corruption and squandering have sunk Bolivia | Más de 20 años de corrupción y despilfarro hunden a Bolivia

By El Diario:

Under MAS Governments

  • According to economists, the irresponsibility of government authorities has left behind a legacy of legal insecurity and land seizures on private property.
  • The country faces an energy and economic crisis due to a shortage of fuel and U.S. dollars.
Public protests against the government, driven by the crisis the country is going through, have been recurrent throughout this year.

During the 20 years of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) in power, corruption has prevailed in public companies and government programs. To this must be added the squandering of resources on sports fields and social club buildings, as well as on industries that do not operate at full capacity, economists said.

They also referred to the irresponsibility of national authorities, led by Evo Morales and Luis Arce, who left behind a trail of legal insecurity and land grabs of private properties. In addition, Bolivia is facing a deep energy and economic crisis due to the lack of fuel and foreign currency.

Economist and professor at the Technical University of Oruro (UTO), Ernesto Bernal, stated that Bolivia has lost 20 years that will be hard to recover, despite the significant income received during the period of high international commodity prices.

He recalled that the price of a barrel of oil surpassed 100 dollars and even reached 140, while the pound of tin climbed to 15 dollars—conditions that will not happen again.

Meanwhile, the president of the Departmental College of Economists of Tarija, Fernando Romero, agreed with Bernal, saying that a great opportunity was lost. The country had substantial revenues from natural gas sales that could have lifted Bolivia out of underdevelopment, laid the foundations for true industrialization, advanced import substitution, and brought in cutting-edge technology.

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