The Social Democratic Movement ( es, Movimiento Demócrata Social; MDS), often shortened to just the Democrats ( es, Demócratas), is a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

founded in 2013 for the movement for greater autonomy for the eastern departments of the ''

Media Luna The Media Luna () or Media Luna Ampliada () refers to a group of four departments – Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija – in Bolivia which are home to a greater proportion of opponents to the national government led by Evo Morales ...

''.

History

Ruben Costas Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portuguese ...

, governor of Santa Cruz department, announced the party's formation in March 2013. Twenty leaders gathered to launch the party in April 2013, including Costas, Beni governor Carmelo Lens and his predecessor Ernesto Suarez, Senator Bernard Gutierrez ( PPB-Cochabamba), and Cochabamba council member Ninoska Lazarte. The launch was hosted by

Savina Cuéllar Savina Cuéllar Leaños (born 30 January 1963) is a Bolivian politician who formerly as governor of the Department of Chuquisaca. She is of Quechua ancestry and one of the leading oppositionists to president Evo Morales. 2006 she joined the Bo ...

, the former prefect of Chuquisaca Department, who as of April 2013, was under house arrest facing charges for the 24 May 2008, violence in Sucre. After a failed petition to legally merge the registration of Costas'

Truth and Social Democracy ''VERDES'' (short for ''Verdad y Democracia Social'', 'Truth and Social Democracy'; the acronym means Greens) was a liberal-conservative political party in the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia founded in 2009 and was led by Rubén Costas. In the ...

(VERDES) party, Renewing Freedom and Democracy (Libertad y Democracia Renovadora; Líder), and

Popular Consensus Popular Consensus ( es, Consenso Popular, CP) was a Bolivian political party founded in 2009. CP founder Óscar Ortiz Antelo was President of the Senate of Bolivia from 2008 to 2010. In the 2009 national election, the party formed an electoral al ...

in June, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal authorized Popular Consensus to rename itself the Social Democratic Movement in August 2013. MDS participated in the 2014 election in alliance with the National Unity Front (UN), supporting the presidential candidacy of Samuel Doria Medina, electing 4 Deputies and one senator. For the 2019 election, MDS and UN again joined to form the Bolivia Says No alliance, nominating Senator Óscar Ortiz as its presidential candidate. Within two weeks, the two parties split over internal disagreements, with MDS moving forward as the alliance's sole leader. Party member and opposition Senator

Jeanine Áñez Jeanine Áñez Chávez (; born 13 June 1967) is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and television presenter who served as the 66th president of Bolivia from 2019 to 2020. A former member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served two ...

became interim president of Bolivia in November 2019, following protests caused by alleged electoral fraud which led to the resignation of the government of Evo Morales. This move was contested by senators for the

Movement for Socialism The Movement for Socialism–Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples ( es, Movimiento al Socialismo–Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos, abbreviated MAS-IPSP, or simply MAS, punning on ''más'', Spanish for ...

(MAS), Morales' party, who were majority in the assembly and were not in attendance, and thus stated that the vote for interim president took place without a quorum. However, the decision was upheld by the Plurinational Constitutional Court, which stated that it followed the succession mechanism stated in the

Constitution of Bolivia The current Constitution of Bolivia ( es, Constitución Política del Estado; literally, the ''Political Constitution of the State'') came into effect on 7 February 2009 when it was promulgated by President Evo Morales, after being approved in a ...

. Nevertheless, MAS maintains that Áñez's assumption to the presidency amounted to a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and in 2021 she was arrested under various charges relating to her assumption to the presidency.

References

{{Authority control 2013 establishments in Bolivia Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Bolivia Federalist parties Liberal parties in Bolivia Political parties established in 2013 Political parties in Bolivia Regionalist parties