What better than a symbol to mark a break? Upon taking office on Saturday, November 8, under the auspices of the legislative assembly in La Paz, Bolivia’s new president, Rodrigo Paz, vowed to serve the Bolivian people in front of an impressive crucifix and Bible. Aged 57, the new head of state of the center-right Christian Democrat party once again concluded his speech with his motto: “God, country and family”had been achieved on the night of his victory, October 19. That night, Paz won in the runoff against a candidate from the more radical conservative liberal right. The left-wing Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) was defeated in the first round, after nearly twenty years of leading Bolivia.
In a secular but heavily Catholic country, this return to civility contrasts with the symbols put forward by previous governments. This marked the resumption of a more traditional political order. In his time, Evo Morales, president from 2006 to 2019, “first native president” from social movements, appearing on the presidential balcony surrounded by workers in construction helmets or women pollera – the traditional skirt of the Aymara, the country’s main ethnic group – while the wiphala, the indigenous state’s symbolic flag, flies.
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