In the final months of 2019, an unexpected series of events unleashed the perfect storm in Bolivia. After a contested election and mass protests, President Evo Morales—who had served for nearly 14 years—saw his hopes for a fourth term dashed. Morales, a controversial leftist leader and Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, fled the country, and an interim government has led La Paz ever since.
Now, a year later, Bolivians will finally head to the polls again on Sunday to elect a new president in what will be the second general election in Latin America since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region. The stakes are high—the election may determine not only Bolivia’s democratic future, but also the fate of leftist movements in South America and beyond.
