Not only dialogue, but also direction | No solo diálogo, también rumbo

By Jaime Dunn, Eju.tv:

Not only dialogue, but also direction: because ideology defines the size of the bread

I value the national dialogue and congratulate the government for organizing it. Bolivia needs fewer blockades and more institutional conversation. But the country needs something deeper: direction.

Bolivia does not only need to talk. Bolivia needs to know where it is headed.

Because a nation is not transformed merely by managing conflicts. It is transformed when it defines a vision for the country.

The MAS had a clear vision: a socialist ideology turned into an economic and political model based on more State, more centralism, more public companies, more control, more subsidies, more corporatism, and more political dependence.

That model led us to the economic, moral, energy, and institutional crisis Bolivia is experiencing today. So the big question is: if the old socialist model failed, what is the new model being proposed for Bolivia?

Because a country cannot live forever improvising. It needs a long-term vision. And every long-term vision is expressed through an ideology and a development model.

We need to clearly define: what role and size the State will have, what space the private sector will have, how and by whom wealth will be generated, how we will attract investment, how we will protect life and private property, how institutions will be rebuilt, what will be done with state-owned companies, how stability will be built, how the immoral State will be brought to an end, and how opportunities will be created for people.

Because although ideology does not replace bread, it does define the size of the bread. It defines whether there will be investment or capital flight, whether the currency will be worth anything or not, whether there will be production or scarcity, whether there will be freedom to undertake businesses or excessive bureaucracy, whether there will be confidence or fear.

The Bolivian crisis is not only economic. It is also a crisis of model, values, and mistaken ideas that for years destroyed incentives, weakened institutions, and punished production.

That is why ideas matter. Models matter. Ideology matters. Because in the end, ideology defines the rules under which a society produces, invests, and progresses.

Nations do not change merely by managing crises. They change when they change paradigms. And a government without a clear ideological vision runs the risk of merely managing the past better… but without transforming it.

Therefore, after the Great National Meeting, the big question remains:
What is Bolivia’s new direction?

*Consultant in the Securities Market at the Andean Development Corporation. • Professor and international speaker on securities markets and securitization. • Writer and frequent financial analyst on financial issues in national and international newspapers and magazines.

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