Deep struggle in Bolivia: Evo Morales and President Luis Arce engage in a new struggle for control of the ruling MAS

Bolivia’s president, Luis Arce, and former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) are engaged in a new battle to control the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. Followers of both politicians They have called two parallel congresses seeking to dominate the partyahead of the 2025 presidential elections.

The distance between the two has grown in recent months and polarization within the MAS intensifies, as sectors linked to each leader seek to proclaim him, separately, as the ruling party’s “sole” candidate.

Morales and his followers held a congress in the tropics of Cochabamba in October 2023, at which the former president was declared absolute leader of the party and “sole” presidential candidate, but the event was canceled by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE ) due to numerous irregularities and ordered its repetition.

Arce and vice president David Choquehuanca They did not attend the conference claiming not to have adequate representation of all the social sectors that make up the MAS.

Morales stated in a recent interview with EFE that Luis Arce, who was his Economy Minister, betrayed the ideology of the ruling party and try to “straighten it”.

For his part, the president said that Morales He is his “main opponent”as he constantly questions his management, a drift that began in late 2021, a year after Arce took over the country’s presidency.

The division felt strongest during the anniversary of the MAS, each celebrated it separately and, as is customary, their speeches were full of criticism and questions against the others.

According to Arce, the MAS is a “historical subject because it is not a person, it is a community subject”. in clear reference to absolute leadership that former president Morales exercises on the party.

Arce officials and members of official social organizations loyal to the president attacked Morales’ “ambition” to dominate the MAS and his “insistence” in proclaiming himself the sole candidate.

Battle in the TSE

Morales’ presidential aspirations are in jeopardy as the electorate made four submissions to the new congress called by his supporters for June.

The TSE specified that in the appeal “there was no consensus with the social organizations that make up the MAS” and that only 8 of the 14 members of the MAS board of directors signed the invitation.

In the interview with EFE, Evo Morales warned that if he was not allowed to compete as a presidential candidate, there would be “a social upheaval” in the country. Days later, he moderated his position and said that if they want to remove him from the electoral race, they must do it in a closed primary election.

In the midst of this fracas, after the appointment of the “presidential delegate” to the TSE, Morales accused Arce of having placed Gustavo Ávila with the sole purpose of disqualifying his candidacy and “outlawing the MAS”.

And it was declared “state of emergency”as he believes this designation is “an attack on his presidential candidacy.”

Likewise, he once again challenged the president to a closed-door primary election to choose the MAS candidate for 2025, and promised to support Luis Arce if he won the party’s election.

EFE Agency