Evo Morales became the first indigenous president of Bolivia in the midst of a growing repulsion against neoliberal policies in Latin America in the period 1998-2009. The leftist revival in the region came on the back of failed US economic and political leadership as demonstrated by the failure of the neoliberal policy model to bring about equal distribution of wealth in the world’s most socially uneven region1.The Morales government with its socialist policies has transformed Bolivia’s landscape with regard to strategic affairs.

The initial part of this policy piece is dedicated to a brief history of Bolivia and to framing out the pitfalls of neoliberal policies in the country. The second part focuses on the land issue and in addressing the successes of Morales’s
strategic economic model of development that features nationalisation and redistribution of wealth. The final part looks at some of the challenges facing the leftist regime.

Repot by the Institute for Global Dialogue