Bolivia: A Year of Elections and Rifts

Polls show that none of the three main contenders in Bolivia's presidential election would win more than 20 percent of the vote if elections were held today, which would mean Bolivia's Congress — not its people — would choose Bolivia's next president. A similar chain of events transpired in 2002, triggering the country's immediate political crisis. Though Bolivia's election schedule has bought the nation some months of relative peace, the reprieve will not heal the rifts fueling the nation's political crisis.