Government Of Luis Arce, 2020–present
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The Arce Cabinet constitutes the 222nd cabinet of the
Plurinational State of Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, ...
. It was formed on 9 November 2020, one day after
Luis Arce Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (; born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism (Bolivia), Movement fo ...
was sworn in as the 67th
president of Bolivia The president of Bolivia (), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the captain general of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. According to the Bolivian C ...
following the 2020 general election, succeeding the Áñez Cabinet. The cabinet is composed entirely of members of the ruling
Movement for Socialism Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...
. Described as a "technocratic" cabinet, it has been noted for the low-profile and youth of some of its members as well as its political distance from former president
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
.


Council of Ministers


Composition


History

According to Arce, the council of ministers accompanying him would be "an austere government with the priority of reactivating the economy and examining the health crisis". The cabinet has been noted for the low profile of its appointed members, predominantly made up of low-level officials and academics who, despite their youth, have long management experience. Political scientist Helena Argirakis affirms that "certain fundamental features that characterize the MAS" are maintained in this cabinet, while at the same time it balances "experience and innovation, the country's regional diversity and professional, political, union and social training". Analysts also highlighted the distance between the appointees and former president and MAS leader
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
. Among the ministers, only Minister of Defense Edmundo Novillo had any long history within the ranks of MAS, being president of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
and governor of
Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...
. These factors reaffirmed Arce's statement that Morales would have no direct participation in his administration. A year into the Arce administration, calls for renewal within the cabinet among sectors related to the MAS began to arise. On 30 December 2021, Morales publicly requested that Arce "improve his cabinet". The following day, Deputy Daniel Rojas went one step further, calling some members of Arce's cabinet "parasites" and affirming that certain social organizations were discontent with their management. Meanwhile, Deputy Juanito Angulo announced that the
Plurinational Legislative Assembly The Plurinational Legislative Assembly () is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government. The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies or ) and an upper house (the ...
would evaluate the cabinet upon returning from parliamentary recess and intended to make recommendations for change based on that. Deputy Héctor Arce stated that the assembly would wait for a response by 22 or 23 January —the traditional date in which Morales ratified his ministers in each year of his administration— "and if the suggested changes are not carried out, we will take action on the matter". Among the complaints of the MAS was the view that some ministers were not sufficiently political. Eight ministers were observed as not holding political militancy within the MAS: Minister of Foreign Affairs
Rogelio Mayta Rogelio Mayta Mayta (born 16 September 1971) is a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Bolivia from 9 November 2020 to 15 November 2023 under the administration of Luis Arce. Biography Rogelio Mayta was born o ...
; of Government
Eduardo del Castillo Carlos Eduardo del Castillo del Carpio (born 27 December 1988) is a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Government of Bolivia from 9 November 2020 to 17 May 2025. Biography Eduardo del Castillo was born on 27 December ...
; of Justice, Iván Lima; of Economy, Marcelo Montenegro; of Hydrocarbons, Franklin Molina; of Mining, Ramiro Villavicencio; of Planning, Gabriela Mendoza; and of Labor, Verónica Navia Tejada. In particular, del Castillo and Lima were spotlighted for the lack of enforceable convictions against those responsible for the alleged coup d'état that ousted Morales during the 2019 political crisis. On 6 January 2022, the Unified Syndical Confederation of Rural Workers (CSUTCB) passed a motion to censure del Castillo and Lima along with five other ministers and three vice ministers for "not working at the height of their mandate and being negligent". On the matter, ''
Página Siete ''Página Siete'' was a daily newspaper published in La Paz, Bolivia. It was founded on 24 April 2010. ''Página Siete'' focused on politics and economics, but it also had social and culture sections. The government of Evo Morales Juan Evo M ...
'' pointed out that "Morales puts Arce in a jam because, after his demand, the president will have to make a decision: if he makes cabinet changes, he will show himself as a president without authority and as a puppet of Evo Morales, and if he does not do so, he will have to enter a public confrontation with his own political boss". At a five-hour meeting held on 19 January 2022, the Arce administration and the
Pact of Unity The Pact of Unity () is an evolving national alliance of Bolivian grassroots organizations in support of indigenous and agrarian rights, land reform, the rewriting of the 1967 constitution through a Constituent Assembly, and a left-indigenous trans ...
agreed to postpone any cabinet changes until 11 February. On that date, the unions conceded to the president, allowing him to ratify his cabinet without changing ministers. In exchange, Arce agreed to allow them to carry out a "permanent evaluation" of his cabinet on a monthly basis.


Cabinets


Structural changes

Arce's cabinet initially received criticism from indigenous leaders such as
Felipe Quispe Felipe Quispe Huanca " Mallku" (Quechua language: "condor"), (22 August 1942 – 19 January 2021) was a Bolivian historian and political leader. He headed the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and was general secretary of the United Union Co ...
due to its lack of
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
representation. However, on 13 November 2020, Arce issued Supreme Decree N° 4393 which reinstated the Ministry of Cultures, which had previously been reduced to a vice-ministry under the Ministry of Education by the administration of
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 ...
. The new office was dubbed as the Ministry of Cultures, Decolonization, and Depatriarchalization and was given the expanded task of combating "inequality between nationalities, as well as between men and women". As well as elevating the portfolio of cultures into its own ministry, the portfolio of sports was also stripped from the Ministry of Education and reassigned to the Ministry of Health. The Vice Ministry of Communications also noted that the creation of the new state agency came thanks to the unification of the energies and hydrocarbons portfolios into a single office, thus keeping the same number of cabinet posts. The new changes came into effect on 19 November when Édgar Pozo, Adrián Quelca, and Franklin Molina Ortiz were ratified in their positions under new titles by Presidential Decree N° 4397. Sabina Orellana, of
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...
origin, was appointed to head the new ministry the following day, adding one indigenous representative to the cabinet.


References


Notes


Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arce, Luis, Cabinet of 2020 establishments in Bolivia Cabinets of Bolivia Cabinets established in 2020 Current governments in South America