Bolivia is a democracy where credible elections have been held regularly. While mass protests and violence erupted after the disputed 2019 elections, new general elections held in 2020 and subnational elections held in 2021 were credible and fair, and stakeholders accepted the results. Nevertheless, the underlying causes of the political violence of 2019 still pose a threat to the country’s political stability. Child labor and violence against women are persistent problems, independent and investigative journalists face harassment, and the judiciary is highly politicized and hampered by corruption.

• In June, military forces led by General Juan José Zúñiga stormed the entrance of the presidential palace in an apparent coup attempt, but withdrew after a confrontation with President Luis Arce; Zúñiga and his main collaborators were arrested hours later. Opposition leaders and Arce’s rival within the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS), former President Evo Morales, accused Arce of staging the incident to boost his popularity amid a deteriorating economic situation.
• Arce and Morales continued to struggle for control of MAS during the year. Arce supporters held a party congress and elected new leaders in May, as the previous, pro-Morales congress had been annulled by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on procedural grounds in 2023. In August, in consultation with opposition groups and the TSE, Arce issued a decree to cancel presidential primary elections ahead of the 2025 general elections, citing the technical difficulty of holding them in tandem with overdue judicial elections.
• In December, the country held partial elections for four top judicial bodies, including four of the nine seats on the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (TCP) and seven of the nine seats on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). The elections had originally been due in late 2023, and balloting for the remaining seats was further delayed by the incumbent TCP on the grounds that the candidate selection process had been flawed; Morales’s camp accused Arce and the sitting TCP judges of colluding to extend their mandates for political reasons.
• The year featured numerous protests, road blockades, and physical confrontations involving the rival factions of MAS as well as supporters of the regionalist movement based in Santa Cruz. After an alleged attempt to arrest Morales on statutory rape charges in October, supporters of the former president in Chapare Province reportedly seized military facilities and temporarily detained uniformed personnel.

This report has been abridged for Freedom in the World 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.