Neoliberal Agenda in Bolivia and its Aftermath

Abstract

The neoliberal agenda was implemented in Bolivia (1985-2004) with great orthodoxy and confronted great opposition from grass-roots movements. The resistance culminated with the election of Evo Morales in 2005. This chapter analyzes the privatization and decentralization laws of the neoliberal era, the shadow they still cast over Morales government, and the role of the Andean culture in guiding collective strategies that led to the new turning point in politics marked by the election of Morales. Neoliberalism was imposed throughout Latin America in the context of the onerous indebtedness of the 1970s that provided the needed leverage for the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) to grant stand-by loans to countries in economic crisis during the 1980sthe lost decade. Sanchez de Lozada 's administration (1993-1997) completely reconfigured Bolivia in spheres such as education, taxation, property rights, etc. Keywords:Bolivia; Evo Morales; International Monetary Fund (IMF ); Latin America; neoliberal agenda; Sanchez de Lozada