Speaking Dec. 14 in Caracas at the meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), Bolivian President Luis Arce warned that his government, a new partner nation of the BRICS, has been the victim of “hybrid warfare” for much of the four years he’s been in office, but which has intensified over recent months. This is a war taking place on “many different fronts,” he said—"politically, economically, legislatively and in the media,” involving the “right wing, the extreme right wing domestically and abroad.” Nor is Bolivia alone in suffering economic warfare. The financial sharks of the crumbling unipolar world are targeting all the BRICS nations for destabilization, he said.
According to the Bolivian Information Agency (ABI) Arce denounced the failing unipolar empire’s use of war, sanctions and blockades to destroy nations’ sovereignty and interfere in their internal affairs, all while claiming to be “pro-democracy.” A multipolar world is the antidote to such hypocrisy, he said.
As the country gears up for contentious presidential elections next August, Arce pointed to the financial warfare against his government. He announced at this morning’s press conference that he will not bend to demands from international credit rating agencies, and City of London and Wall Street bankers, to abandon the years-long fixed exchange rate which pegs the currency, the boliviano, to the dollar, Los Tiempos reported. He said a devaluation would increase domestic prices of national products, food, and fuel, while making exports cheaper, greatly harming Bolivia financially.
No one disputes Bolivia’s real economic problems. Due its natural gas reserves drying up, it no longer exports gas to neighboring countries, significantly dropping export revenue. Its foreign currency reserves today are below $2 billion, compared to $15 billion in 2014, and most of its reserves are actually in gold. But, the government must use its scarce dollars to subsidize imported fuel, diesel and food which is difficult. Arce is tackling the problem of food contraband crossing borders, particularly to Peru, which has caused scarcity and rising food prices and panicked the population. The almost month-long blockade of national highways orchestrated in October by former President Evo Morales cost the national economy almost $2 billion and caused major food and fuel shortages.
International financial media, rating agencies and the U.S. State Department insist that Bolivia’s problems are due to its embrace of “socialism,” with a huge state sector and too many state-run companies. The State Department’s “2024 Investment Climate Statements: Bolivia” complains that Bolivia is clearly not “investment friendly” and that its economic model is too reliant on “nationalization” and “import substitution.” Evidence of sovereign economic policy on behalf of the nation’s population, and not the banks, is clearly anathema to Foggy Bottom’s intentions.
