Bolivian President Evo Morales will face a run-off vote for the first time after failing to secure a fourth consecutive term at an election. Morales had 45% of the vote to 38% of former President Carlos Mesa, partial results from Sunday's presidential vote showed.
Bolivia's Evo Morales will seek a controversial fourth term as president on Sunday when voters head to the polls in what is expected to be a tight race for the once-popular left-wing leader. Morales is already the longest-serving president in Bolivian history, having been at the helm for 13 years, and its first indigenous president.
Bolivia's President Evo Morales and Argentina's presidential frontrunner Alberto Fernández met Thursday evening in Santa Cruz de la Sierra to discuss Latin American region and possible future joint actions.
In the tropical Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a wealthy farming hub on the edge on the Amazon rainforest, President Evo Morales gathered with ranchers late last month to celebrate a maiden shipment of beef to China.
Wildfires raging in Bolivia's forests and grasslands since May have destroyed 1.7 million hectares, officials said on Wednesday, amid a US$11 million effort by the government to contain them.
Fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares of forest and grasslands in Bolivia this year, the government said on Wednesday, though environmentalists claim the true figure is much greater.
Bolivia's president Evo Morales gave a half-hearted welcome on Tuesday to a G7 pledge of US$20 million to fight the Amazon wildfires, describing it as tiny. An underwhelmed Morales said the aid from the most industrialized countries was part of the world's obligation to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday he is open to international aid to fight the blazes that have engulfed rural villages and doubled in size since Thursday. Morales is also suspending his campaign for re-election for at least a week, just two months from election day, to focus on the wildfires.
Bolivian authorities warned this week that 70% of the department of Santa Cruz — where more than a quarter of the country's population lives — is under “extreme risk” from forest fires. According to the government, nearly 500,000 hectares of forest have now been turned into ashes.
The political and economic crisis in Venezuela was the center of the political debate among the heads of state that, this Wednesday, met in Santa Fe, Argentina in the Mercosur semi-annual summit, a block from which the Caribbean country is currently suspended. Neither Uruguay, Bolivia nor Chile addressed a word regarding the Venezuelan situation.