[REVISION HISTORY]

Bolivia President Rodrigo Paz reforms amid approval drop

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-05 23:51 UTC → 2026-08-06 01:51 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In early July 2026 Bolivia’s lower house approved President Rodrigo Paz’s revised budget, targeting a fiscal deficit of about nine percent of GDP through salary cuts and tax waivers for key sectors, while allocating extra funds to public universities. Opposition critics said the plan would not curb bureaucracy. In early August Paz reshuffled his cabinet, eliminating the Planning and Tourism ministries and reducing the total number of ministries. He later clarified that the executive would be trimmed from 21 to 12 ministries, arguing the cuts would curb wasteful spending, free resources for public works, and support new hydrocarbon and mining legislation. Critics warned that consolidating ministries could concentrate power and impair investment coordination. On 5 August Paz reiterated the reduction to 12 ministries and linked the streamlining to a need for greater efficiency. An Ipsos Ciesmori poll showed his approval plunging from 65 % in November 2025 to 32 % in July 2026, with disapproval rising to 55 %. The decline followed more than 50 days of nationwide road blockades that caused food, fuel and medical‑oxygen shortages, at least 16 deaths and economic losses estimated at roughly 5 % of GDP. The government declared a state of emergency and sought a $1.9 billion IMF program to stabilise the economy. On 5 August 2026 Paz met the governors of Bolivia’s nine departments in Sucre to advance his “50/50” decentralisation agenda, which would shift authority and resources to regional governments. The proposal includes financial autonomy for governors and municipalities, a new resource‑allocation formula, debt relief for sub‑national entities and a review of the legal framework governing them. Governors discussed projects such as investment in San Ignacio de Velasco and new road links with Brazil and Peru, while Santa Cruz governor Juan Pablo Velasco framed the talks as a demand for genuine decentralisation.

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