(MENAFN) Rodrigo Paz, the center-right candidate who triumphed in Bolivia’s Oct. 19 runoff election, was sworn in as president on Saturday, officially beginning his 2025–2030 term and bringing an end to 20 years of socialist governance under the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.

During a ceremony held in the Bolivian Congress in La Paz, Paz received the presidential sash and delivered a speech sharply criticizing the previous administrations for leaving behind what he described as a devastated economy.

“We inherited a destroyed country,” he said. “They left us with a collapsed economy, the lowest international reserves in 30 years, inflation, shortages, debt, and insecurity.”

Paz accused former leaders of fostering systemic corruption and mismanaging public resources. “They left behind unjustifiable fiscal deficits. Corruption has practically become state policy. We are saying enough to ideologies that can no longer put food on the table,” he stated. “We reject a system that does not respect employment, production, growth, and private property.”

He directly challenged former MAS presidents Evo Morales and Luis Arce, rhetorically asking: “In the presence of international witnesses, the armed forces and the police, I want to ask, where is the gas? Where is the sea of gas you promised? Evo where is the lithium? Arce, where is the gas?”

The inauguration was attended by regional leaders and dignitaries from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

Paz, son of former President Jaime Paz Zamora, takes power amid Bolivia’s worst economic crisis in four decades, pledging to steer the nation toward recovery and stability. His election victory, with 54.53% of the vote, marks the end of the MAS party’s long-dominant left-wing rule in Bolivia and a political turning point for the country.

MENAFN09112025000045017640ID1110316706