Bolivia's presidential election faces growing uncertainty

June 18 (UPI) -- Political and social tensions in Bolivia are intensifying two months ahead of the general elections Aug. 17, raising concerns the vote could be marred by violence, deep polarization and institutional instability.
The unrest began after Bolivia's Constitutional Court barred former President Evo Morales from running again, citing term limits. His supporters responded with protests and roadblocks across several regions.
The protests have left six people dead, including police officers and farmers. Nearly two weeks of roadblocks and military deployments in key areas have drawn comparisons to some of Bolivia's darkest periods of political unrest.
Óscar Hassenteufel, president of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal, or TSE, warned in a recent news conference that "dark forces" are trying to prevent the election from taking place. He said public distrust is rising as electoral institutions may not be strong enough to withstand pressure in an increasingly polarized climate.
Despite the TSE's assurances that the election date remains set after talks with all three branches of government, public uncertainty persists.
The absence of a preclusion law -- which would block indefinite legal challenges to the electoral process -- has raised concerns. The TSE has warned that without such legislation, the election could be suspended or annulled.
"The country is facing various challenges, and evidently, today our country's democracy is at risk," President Luis Arce said at a news conference in Santa Cruz. "Democracy must win. Social peace must win in our country against all destabilizing attempts to stop the election."
Bolivia is grappling with a deepening economic crisis. Annual inflation was 18.46% in May, the highest level since 2008. Prices for basic goods, such as beef and chicken, have climbed nearly 24% over the past year. Protests over fuel and currency shortages have further intensified social unrest.
A joint report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program warned that acute food insecurity in Bolivia is expected to worsen in the coming months, driven by high inflation and declining foreign reserves.
"This is expected to further weaken import capacity and household purchasing power, limiting access to food," the report said. It also warned that fuel shortages could disrupt agricultural activity and further reduce corn production, after already below-average harvest in 2024.
According to the U.N. report, as of October 2024, 2.2 million Bolivians -- about 19% of the population -- were experiencing acute food insecurity.
Any delay in the elections or attempt at electoral fraud could trigger widespread unrest in a country already strained by economic crisis and public distrust, political analyst Franklin Pareja said in an interview with eju.tv radio.
Pareja said rising frustration over the economic crisis has created strong expectations around the election, which many see as a potential turning point for the country.
"There is deep concern that everything in Bolivia is at risk and nothing is guaranteed," he said.
Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

UPI

15 hours ago

• UPI

Ex-Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil released from ICE detention after judge's order

Pro-Palestinian protesters hold flags and signs seekingh the release of Mahmoud Khaul in New York City on March 10. He was arrested three days earlier and held in Louisiana until his release Friday that was ordered by a federal judge. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- Former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil on Friday night was freed from federal detention in central Louisiana after a federal judge ordered his release. In Newark, N.J., U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said that prosecutors didn't provide a legitimate justification for 104 days of detention since March 8 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Syrian national organized campus protests favoring Hamas while enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, which runs counter to U.S. foreign policy. Farbiarz, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said it was "highly, highly unusual" the government still wanted him detained. "Together, they suggest that there is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner - and, of course, that would be unconstitutional," the judge said. He was ordered to surrender his passport and travel documents, and restricted to four states and Washington, D.C. While in detention, Khalil missed the birth of his first child in New York in April, and he was allowed to hold him while in custody in May. His wife is a U.S. citizen. Just before 8 p.m. CDT, Khalil walked out of the detention center in Jena, La., about 220 miles northwest of New Orleans, with his lawyers and wearing a kaffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. He said no person "should actually be detained for protesting a genocide," Khalil said. "Justice will prevail." "After more than three months we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father," Dr. Noor Abdalla, Mahmoud Khalil's wife, said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. "We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians. But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family, and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom." Alina Das, one of Khalil's lawyers and co-director of New York University's Immigrant Rights Clinic, said: "The purpose of every step that the government has taken in this case has been to ensure that Mr. Khalil remains locked away until he is deported, as retaliation and punishment for his speech." After the birth of his son Deen, he wrote: "During your first moments, I buried my face in my arms and kept my voice low so that the 70 other men sleeping in this concrete room would not see my cloudy eyes or hear my voice catch. I feel suffocated by my rage and the cruelty of a system that deprived your mother and me of sharing this experience. Why do faceless politicians have the power to strip human beings of their divine moments? "Since that morning, I have come to recognize the look in the eyes of every father in this detention center. I sit here contemplating the immensity of your birth and wonder how many more firsts will be sacrificed to the whims of the US government, which denied me even the chance of furlough to attend your birth." He was arrested outside student housing on the campus. On June 11, Farbiarz ordered Khalil's release after determining that the government could no longer detain him over the claim he is a threat to the country's foreign policy. Then two days later, Trump administration said Khalil could be detained because they said he kept some prior work off his application for permanent residency. The judge allowed the detention to continue. The Justice Department wanted him detained until an immigration judge could weigh the matter, claiming tFarbiarz does not have jurisdiction. Farbiarz said it would be a "waste of time" to send the case to an immigration judge who would likely reach his same conclusion. Other pro-Palestinian activists have also been released as their immigration cases go through the courts. In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a memo, citing an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The secretary of state can deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the country would result in "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States." The arrest was carried out by the ICE, which is part of Homeland Security. Khalil, who was born in 1995, grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and was granted permanent U.S. resident status. H

UPI

17 hours ago

• UPI

Judge blocks Trump's efforts to ban foreign students at Harvard

Graduates and friends and family gather for the 2019 Harvard University Class Day. A federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction that would continue blocking President Donald Trump efforts to bar international students from attending the school. File Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- Harvard University received good news on two fronts Friday -- the courts and President Donald Trump -- in its fight with the federal government on funding and foreign students. A federal judge in Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction that would continue blocking Trump efforts to bar international students from attending the private university. Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, previously had issued a temporary block halting the moves by Trump, though her decision can be appealed to the circuit court and ultimately the Supreme Court. Shortly afterward at 3:40 p.m. EDT, Trump posted on Truth Social that a deal could be reached with the Ivy League school in Cambridge, Mass., after billions of dollars in grants were paused as the school faced accusations of anti-Semitism. "Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their large-scale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution. We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so," Trump said. "They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right. If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be 'mindbogglingly' HISTORIC, and very good for our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Education Secretary Linda McMahon last week said: "We are, I think, making progress in some of the discussion, where even though they have taken a hard line, they have, for instance, replaced their head of Middle East Studies." Her comments came during a moderated conversation with Bloomberg in Washington, D.C. The Education Department has frozen $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts to Harvard University after the school rejected its demands to make policy changes and "uphold federal civil rights laws." Halted were science and medicine research, including radiation exposure, ALS diagnostics and tuberculosis treatment. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, asking for an expedited final decision in the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 21. Two dozen universities filed an amicus brief in support of the school this month. The IRS is considering revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status. On June 4, Trump ordered a suspension of international visas for new students seeking to attend Harvard University, accusing the school of failing to report "known illegal activity" carried out by its students. In a proclamation, Trump said the suspension applies only to new nonimmigrant students who travel to the United States solely or primarily to attend the Massachusetts university. International students are allowed to enter the country to attend U.S. schools under the Student Exchange Visa Program. In the 2024-2025 academic year, Harvard had nearly 7,000 international students, representing about 27% of its total student body. They came from over 140 different countries. When counting researchers, the total international population at Harvard exceeds 10,000. This is the case before Judge Burroughs. The judge, in the three-page decision, blocked the Trump administration from ending Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which was based on a May 22 revocation notice the Department of Homeland Security sent to Harvard administrators. Burroughs directed the government to "immediately" prepare guidance to alert Trump administration officials to disregard that notice and to restore "every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been absent such Revocation Notice." Also, student visa holders shouldn't be denied entry to the United States. Burroughs wrote the government must "file a status report within 72 hours of entry of this Order describing the steps taken to ensure compliance with this Order and certifying compliance with its requirements." In the May letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration was revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students in part because it had been "perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' policies." Ian Heath Gershenger, an attorney for the university, accused the administration of "using international students as pawns" and targeting Harvard. Justice Department attorneys instead focused on national security concerns because they do not trust Harvard to vet its international students. An attorney for the Trump administration previously said that it does not have the same concerns in regard to other schools but that that could change.

UPI

18 hours ago

• UPI

Supreme Court allows terrorism victims to sue Palestinian groups

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a federal law that allows victims of terrorism to sue Palestinian entities in U.S. courts. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a federal law that allows victims of terrorism to sue two Palestinian entities in U.S. courts. The decision reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals in the New York-based 2nd Circuit that found the law denied the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority fair legal process. All nine justices ruled that the bipartisan 2019 law, called the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, does not violate due process rights of the PLO and PA. The lawsuit and appeal involve cases from the early 2000s and not the Israel-Hamas war and airstrikes between Israel and Iran. It was based on the Antiterrorism Act of 1990, which creates a federal civil damages action for U.S. nationals injured or killed "by reason of an act of international terrorism." Founded in 1964, the PLO is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. The PA, founded in 1994, is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 46-page opinion that included a concurrence by Justice Clarence Thomas and backed by Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wanted to define the boundaries of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Lawsuits by U.S. victims of terrorist attacks in Israel can move forward in American courts. "It is permissible for the Federal Government to craft a narrow jurisdictional provision that ensures, as part of a broader foreign policy agenda, that Americans injured or killed by acts of terror have an adequate forum in which to vindicate their right to ATA compensation," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. In April, the high court consolidated two cases for arguments: a Justice Department appeal and an appeal by the family of Israeli-American Ari Fuld, who was fatally stabbed at a shopping mall in the West Bank in 2018. The Biden administration initially intervened in Fuld's case and another one brought by 11 American families who sued the Palestinian leadership groups and were awarded $650 million in a 2025 trial for several attacks in Israel.