Bolivia, the Economical Miracle of Latino America, The case of Bolivia
Author: Diego Caballero Vélez
November 2014
d.caballerovelez(a)gmail.com
When the last 12th October, the President Morales was reelected for the third time consecutive, Bolivia said “yes” to the miraculous process of changing that the country is experimenting from some years ago.
It is difficult to talk about “economical miracles” in these times, where the major Western powers are suffering the most critical economic crisis in years, where multinationals hesitate in carrying out actions abroad having fear about the bad economic situation of many countries, where the inflation in lots of biggest European powers has reached incredible figures, in these times is difficult to talk about miracles.
While the richest and most powerful countries are the most ones in suffering the economic crisis, we find in Latino America some economic growths deserving of admiration by west. Thanks to this, many companies are fixing his eyes on this continent to import and establish new commercial relationships, thing that was inconceivable few years ago because of the low level of economic growth that these countries had.
An example of these incredible Latino American economic growths is Bolivia, that being one of the poorest countries in Latino America has become, according to IMF, in the country with the major economic growth in South America and the second one in Latino America after Panama. But, how is it possible that a country where in 2005 the extreme poverty exceeded 39 % it has been reduced to 21%? Becoming in one of the Latino American countries that lead lists about less risk of extreme poverty for the future.
We find the answer in a series of economic policies applied by the political cabinet of Morales since his arrival to the presidency.
One of the fundamental keys to economic success of Morales policy has been the combination of a social policy with a market economy policy. Bolivians have made the natural resources their own that have been ceded to the transnationals so the most part of profits used to go abroad.
With this, Bolivia has the total control of natural resources that make the profits his own applying a market policy, and ensuring the participation of foreign private enterprise and cooperatives under a state control, as well as, developing social policies to reduce the social differences. In other words, the economy is nationalized and recuperated to do a more fair social policy, as well as to make hollow to the transnational companies.
Speculations about this country by transnational companies are reducing because Morales policy safeguards them with judicial security and formal taxation norms provoking that Bolivia was a focus of attention for lots of big companies.
In a country where in 2013 the GDP grew to 6.8% and, according to the IMF, between 2014 and 2015 exceed 5% with lower inflation to 6%, where in less than 5 years has become from being a debt country to a creditor country, where 10% of the population is out of extreme poverty and the unemployment rate (3.2%), is the lowest one in Latin America, the Finance Minister of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, sums up: “good economic policy can reach a welfare state, is the way in which things are done to reach the goal of creating a greater social stability”.
Surely, an economic miracle performed by a socialist government that has provoked the admiration of the major new liberal economics.
SOURCES
- Ramonet, I.” Bolivia está cambiando”. Le Monde Diplomatique en español, nº 228, November 2014.
- Interview of Juan Carlos Zambrana Marchetti to Luis Arce Catacora, Finance Minister of Bolivia. http://juancarloszambrana.com/spanish/?page_id=2082