Democracy Dialogues: Lithium and the Future of Democracy in Bolivia

Speakers:

• Jaime Aparicio, Former Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador at Large to the United Nations (UN), and Ambassador to the United States
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

"Bolivia is facing a double crisis. One is political due to the lack of democracy and the imprisonment of hundreds of political adversaries and opponents, and the other one is economic," said Jaime Aparicio, former Bolivian ambassador to the United States during his conversation with Vice President of AS/COA Eric Farnsworth. The two discussed Bolivia’s trajectory since Evo Morales' presidency, democracy, and lithium development prospects since the 2019 election crisis.

Aparicio and Farnsworth covered the status of the rule of law in Bolivia. “President Luis Arce has started using the justice system to persecute all adversaries and other...political opponents," he said. In addition to these challenges, the country faces an economic crisis. "Bolivia currently has its largest fiscal deficit in its history," noted Aparicio.

Democracy Dialogues is a series of conversations we need to be having now on the state of democracy in the Americas. Hosted by Eric Farnsworth, these one-on-one interviews with leading democracy practitioners explore the most difficult issues of regional democratic governance with an eye toward pragmatic, well-calibrated solutions.

Past featured guests have included Colombia's then-President Ivan Duque, NBA Basketball Star Enes Kanter Freedom, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, CubaDecide founder Rosa Maria Paya, Editor-in-Chief of Americas Quarterly Brian Winter, and founder and Editor of Nicaragua's Confidential Carlos Fernando Chamorro.

Follow the conversation: #DemocracyDialogues | @ASCOA