Rodrigo Paz

Rodrigo Paz Pereira (Spanish pronunciation: [roˈðɾiɣo ˈpas peˈɾejɾa]; born 22 September 1967) is a Bolivian politician and diplomat who has served as the 68th president of Bolivia since 2025. The eldest son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora and great-nephew of president Víctor Paz Estenssoro, he served as a senator for Tarija from 2020 to 2025. He also previously served as mayor of Tarija from 2015 to 2020 and as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2002 to 2010, representing his father's Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR). Born in Spain, Paz graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., and joined the government of Hugo Banzer in various diplomatic positions. He was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2002 as part of the MIR, serving until 2010. Following the dissolution of MIR, Paz entered the local field of his family's political stronghold, Tarija, serving as President of the Municipal Council from 2010 to 2015 and as Mayor of Tarija from 2015 to 2020. In 2020, he was elected as senator for Tarija as part of the Civic Community party. In the 2025 general election, Paz ran as the candidate for president of the Christian Democratic Party, with former police officer Edmand Lara as his running mate. Initially third in polls behind businessman Samuel Doria Medina and former president Jorge Quiroga, Paz placed first in the election's first round in an upset that marked the end of MAS's 20-year dominance in the country. Paz went on to defeat Quiroga in a second round run-off, the first time in the country's history that the mechanism had been used. Paz's political positions have been described as centrist and populist, aligning with Quiroga on warmer relations with Israel and with the United States, the latter for economic aid and reduction in...