Cuba, Venezuela’s Maduro Regime, and Bolivia’s Morales Socialist Regime
Things these countries have
in common: socialist governments, rampant corruption, high inflation, neglect
of domestic fossil fuel and mining industries, anti-American sentiments, and
cooperation with American adversaries.
Bolivia’s current President,
Rodrigo Paz, has been in power for six months. He is trying to reorient the
company’s failing economy with the wider international markets and reinvigorate
investment in industries that have been neglected by the previous socialist
governments, including the fossil fuel and mining industries. His decision to
lower fuel subsidies has resulted in pushback.
Latin American socialist
governments have been problematic for a long time. They tend to be
anti-American, and they tend to be riddled with economic and social problems.
They are often associated with or are more tolerant of narco-traffickers.
While the downfalls of
Venezuela and Cuba were enhanced by U.S. sanctions, that is not the case with
the other countries, such as Bolivia. The current Paz government is friendly
and cooperative with America and Trump, and the U.S. is also assisting them in
alleviating food and medicine shortages due to road blockades. Morales ruled
with his strong anti-American sentiments for 13.5 years, from 2006 through most
of 2019, after resigning in November 2019 due to protests and conclusions that
the election was rigged in his favor and allegations of mass fraud by another
socialist ruler, Luis Arce, another member of the Movement for Socialism (MAS)
party and then by a former MAS party operative, Jeanine Áñez, who was elected
interim president and served from 2020 to 2025 when Paz, a member of the more
moderate Christian Democratic party. At the time Áñez assumed the office of
interim president, I remember her being called far-right wing, which was not
really true. When Morales was forced to resign, he was defended by American
Democratic Socialists Bernie Sanders and AOC, even though his stance was
decidedly anti-American. Morales stands accused of impregnating a girl in her
early teens and failed to appear at his child trafficking trial amid the recent
protests. An acquaintance of mine from Europe even said Morales had a friend of
his murdered. Morales and Arce had a big falling out after being friends and
collaborators for many years. Arce was arrested in 2020 by anti-corruption
forces due to his actions as finance minister during Morales’s rule, where he
diverted hundreds of millions in natural gas revenues to indigenous peasant
farmers. This led to the years with interim president Áñez. In 2016, Bolivians
voted with a 51.3% majority to not allow Morales to amend the constitution for
another term. He initially accepted the results, then backtracked as he ran
again in 2019, with the results strongly disputed.
President Paz inherited a
country in a severe economic crisis after 20 years of socialist rule.
Industrial projects with billions invested remain unmonetized and unfinished.
The socialist government decreased investment in natural gas projects, which
led to declining revenue from the sector.
Morales, who is currently
hiding out in rural Bolivia among supporters in the coca-growing region of the
country, is also being supported by other socialist and leftist governments,
including those in Venezuela and Colombia. It is claimed that he is also being
supported by drug trafficking networks. He is also thought to be directing the
protests, some of which have turned violent and are ripe with intimidation
tactics such as people wielding sticks of dynamite, arson, and mass blockading
of main roads. An article in the Latin Times called the outside help:
"A geopolitical rescue operation for a crumbling
authoritarian network."
Of course, Morales blames the
Americans and the CIA for being out to get him and to remove all leftist
governments in Latin America. Those governments, including his, have been
strongly condemned as authoritarian and full of corruption. The U.S has also
called the current actions a coup financed by socialist political factions,
narco-traffickers, and organized crime. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Christopher Landau stated the above opinion and also said:
"It cannot be that you have a democratic process
where he was elected overwhelmingly by the Bolivian people less than a year ago
and now you have violent demonstrators blockading the streets."
President Paz noted in a late
May Bloomberg interview:
“There are many internal and external interests in
making this democracy fail and generating regional disorder,” Paz said Saturday
from the presidential palace in La Paz.
“This is a problem over whether democracy in Bolivia is
viable or not,” said Paz, who took office in November following two decades of
socialist rule.
The government then invited
the La Paz farmers’ federation for talks. Public Works Minister Mauricio Zamora
said he was ambushed three times by protesters wielding stones and explosives
on Saturday. “I felt my life to be at risk,” he said in a statement. Paz
and his cabinet ministers also cut their own salaries by 50% to show commitment
to the country.
The U.S. has ramped up
humanitarian assistance to Bolivia amid the supply chain problems caused by the
blockades. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the U.S. would not
allow:
“…criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow
democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere.”
Paz has called for:
“…an open economy, legal certainty and a society where
racial and cultural differences no longer generate the tensions Bolivia is
currently undergoing.”
“Our government represents the closing of a cycle of
management of the last 20 years,” Paz said. “This transition won’t be easy, but
clearly it’s the right path to free up Bolivia’s productive forces.”
Bolivia’s legislature
recently passed a law allowing the use of troops to rein in protestors. This
should clear the way towards ending the roadblocks, hopefully without any
violence. A spokesperson for Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” regional
coalition noted:
“We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights
back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to
prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies to the Bolivian
people through fake road blockades.”
Morales and his party favored
Chinese influence while eschewing American influence. His government was
extremely distrusting of multinational companies that sought to develop the
country’s significant lithium resources, being overly suspicious of being
shortchanged. The Morales government made some lithium deals with Russia and
China, but there is distrust of them, too. An article in UPI News regarding
China’s influence in Bolivia notes:
“The more important question is whether Latin American
countries have the institutional strength to negotiate with any major power on
terms that serve their people. A weak state can be exploited by China, but also
by Western corporations or local elites of any ideology. A strong state can
engage China, the United States and Europe without surrendering transparency or
public accountability.”
“Bolivia needs a development strategy rooted in open
competition, public scrutiny and environmental responsibility.”
An article published
today in the Washington Examiner, authored by Manhattan Institute fellow Matias
Ahrensdorf, summarizes the latest developments in the protests:
“As of this writing, 103 blockades operate across seven
of nine departments, 13 people have died, and food, medicine, and fuel are
running short on the crisis’s 34th day.”
The article points out that
much of Western media has depicted the protests as being about dissatisfaction
with government policies, but that is just a small part. The New York Times
blamed teacher pay, contaminated fuel, and a new land law. They ignore the real
reason for the protests – Morales and his socialist ideology.
“Second, the “supporters” cast as blue-collar workers
seeking fair wages tell a different story to reporters from the Bolivian outlet
Unitel. They admit that unions controlled by Morales pay them to protest and
threaten their jobs if they fail to appear. Anyone who tries to negotiate with
Paz, they say, is “immediately disowned and expelled.”
“Morales has done this before. In 2024, after a judge
issued an arrest warrant for statutory rape and incitement to prostitution, his
supporters shut down highways, clashed with police, and occupied a military
barracks, holding some 200 soldiers hostage.”
“The same people who invoked “defending democracy” for a
leader chasing an unconstitutional fourth term now stand with the mob trying to
topple an elected one.”
“…the world must call this what it is, a bid to topple a
democracy by a man dodging prosecution. Morales belongs in a jail cell, not at
the head of a blockade. Bolivia’s path forward runs through its courts and
ballot box, not another round of mob rule.”
It is true that
authoritarianism is a serious problem among Latin American leftist governments,
especially the socialist ones. Add in the other common occurrences of economic
incompetence and rampant corruption, and the ingredients for a failed state are
there. However, this time it appears that people are waking up to the attempt
to take down a clearly elected government with the help of organized criminals.
Paz and the Bolivian majority deserve America’s help, and we should provide it
as we can.
References:
Bolivia’s
Paz says protests test democracy ahead of talks. Sergio Mendoza and David Gura.
Bloomberg. May 23, 2026. Bolivia’s Paz says protests test
democracy ahead of talks
Coup
in plain sight: Bolivia is the front line of Latin America's ideological war. S.
H. Lee. Latin Times. May 19, 2026. Coup in plain sight: Bolivia is the
front line of Latin America's ideological war
Bolivian
minister's convoy ambushed while overseeing roadblock clearance. Aleks Phillips.
BBC. May 24, 2026. Bolivian minister's convoy ambushed
while overseeing roadblock clearance
Bolivia
president Paz cuts salary by 50% as protests grip country. Reuters. May 25,
2026. Bolivia president Paz cuts salary by
50% as protests grip country
US
says it is ramping up emergency assistance in Bolivia amid protests. Reuters.
June 4, 2026. US says it is ramping up emergency
assistance in Bolivia amid protests
Bolivia’s
legislature passes law allowing use of troops against protesters. Al Jazeera
Staff and AFP. June 7, 2026. Bolivia’s
legislature passes law allowing use of troops against protesters
Bolivia's
China lesson is bigger than Bolivia. Opinion by Gustavo Nakamura, UPI News. June
8, 2026. Bolivia's
China lesson is bigger than Bolivia
Bolivia’s
insurrection isn’t about economic grievances. It’s about ideology. Matias
Ahrensdorf, Washington Examiner. June 8, 2026. Bolivia’s
insurrection isn’t about economic grievances. It’s about ideology
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