PRESIDENT PAZ: Bolivia has rejected socialism and is open for business

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Bolivia is beginning a new chapter.

For nearly two decades, my country was governed by the Movement Toward Socialism. That period reshaped Bolivia’s economy, institutions, and relationship with the United States. Today, my government is taking a different direction: rebuilding confidence, strengthening institutions, opening the economy to investment, and creating more room for private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

When I took office, Bolivia’s Central Bank had only $51 million in reserves. Ten months later, reserves had risen to close to $1.2 billion, and our objective is to continue rebuilding them. Inflation remains high, fuel shortages have tested our people, and the work ahead is difficult. But the direction is clear: Bolivia is putting its economic house in order.

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During my campaign, I described our approach as “capitalism for everyone.” By that I mean access to capital, the ability to invest, the freedom to build businesses, and the opportunity to create jobs and prosperity. Ideology does not put food on the table. Employment does. Production does. Investment does. Economic growth does.

Bolivia's President Rodrigo Paz delivering a speech in La Paz

This new economic direction is also creating the basis for a new relationship with the United States. My discussions in New York with Secretary of State Marco Rubio reflected an important change in the relationship between our countries. Bolivia seeks cooperation with the United States based on mutual respect, economic opportunity, security, investment, and shared interests.

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The Trump administration has placed renewed attention on the Western Hemisphere, including economic strength, security, and cooperation among the nations of the Americas. Bolivia intends to engage constructively in that conversation while pursuing its own national interests and rebuilding relationships that can contribute to growth and stability.

Bolivia is open for business. But opening our economy does not mean selling our future.

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Our country possesses extraordinary natural wealth. We have natural gas, agricultural capacity, forests, and strategic minerals including lithium, copper, and tin that are increasingly important to the global economy. But we do not want to repeat the history of countries that exported their natural resources for decades while remaining poor.

Bolivia cannot simply remove minerals from the ground, ship them abroad, and watch other countries create the technology, manufacturing, jobs, and value from them. We want long-term partnerships built around employment, training, technology, infrastructure, productivity, and value added in Bolivia.

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Our message to American and international investors is straightforward: Bolivia welcomes investment, capital, technology, and expertise. We want companies that are prepared to build, produce, employ, train, and grow alongside Bolivian workers and businesses.

As I told the United Nations, Bolivia wants to be open to the world with dignity.

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That means economic growth must also serve the Bolivian people. A stronger private sector does not mean abandoning social responsibility. Our objective is to create better jobs, stronger institutions, better education, greater security, and more opportunity. We must protect our forests and the Amazon, respect our Indigenous communities, and ensure that development creates tangible benefits for the people who live here.

The same principle applies to our young people. Bolivia’s future will depend on whether they can find purpose, work, and opportunity at home. Investment should help create that future.

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Bolivia’s economic direction is therefore based on a simple proposition: work with the United States, our neighbors, and the wider world; welcome productive investment; encourage entrepreneurship; expand private enterprise; and ensure that the wealth created in Bolivia also improves the lives of Bolivians.

Not everything has been resolved. We are only beginning.

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But Bolivia will not remain on its knees. We will stand up, move forward, and build again.

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