These were the words of Bolivia’s outgoing President Luis Arce, in a wide-ranging interview with Sputnik Mundo published Aug. 20. As he will be leaving office in November, following the Aug. 17 general election, Arce reviewed many aspects of his 2020-2025 term in office, including his efforts to industrialize Bolivia, through building infrastructure projects, to expand economic activity in less-developed regions, and factors that prevented him from meeting his goals. But on the issue of the BRICS, in which Bolivia became a partner nation in January of this year, he was firm.
He said, he was right to join the emerging BRICS bloc, because it offered a chance to open up new markets in China, India, Russia, and all the BRICS nations, “of which there are now many, and represent a large percentage of the world’s population, markets, and therefore its economy. I think we shouldn’t miss any opportunity to continue there,” he emphasized, rather than stick with the “old, decadent bloc” of the U.S. and Europe. Of course, he added, the new government will have to decide whether to remain in the BRICS, but “I think it’s to Bolivia’s advantage to remain in Mercosur, and to be present in this emerging [BRICS] bloc which, from my standpoint, is the winning bloc.”
Asked about Donald Trump’s tariff wars, Arce replied that the imposition of tariffs on many countries was purely political and was unjustified from any technical or economic standpoint. “From the government, what we’ve done is open new markets in the BRICS countries … the Bolivian government’s view is to look to our own region and not to countries that impose tariffs which harm the whole planet.” Asked about his legacy, he discussed his many projects to industrialize the country. As Bolivia had just celebrated its bicentennial on Aug. 6, he said he also wanted to be remembered for his commitment to democracy in a country that had suffered decades of repressive military dictatorships and neoliberal policies.
