Bolivia’s new president, Rodrigo Paz, says his country is done with nearly two decades of socialist governance and is now actively courting foreign investment, including from the United States.
In a piece published by Fox News, Paz wrote that Bolivia was governed for close to 20 years by the Movement Toward Socialism, a period that reshaped the country’s economy, institutions, and relationship with Washington. He said his government is now moving in the opposite direction: rebuilding institutional trust, opening the economy, and giving private enterprise and entrepreneurship more room to operate.
Paz pointed to the state of the country’s finances when he took office. Bolivia’s Central Bank held just $51 million in reserves at that point. Ten months later, he says reserves have climbed to nearly $1.2 billion, with his government aiming to keep rebuilding them. He acknowledged the country still faces high inflation and fuel shortages, calling the work ahead “difficult” but the direction “clear.”
Paz described his economic philosophy as “capitalism for everyone” — access to capital, the freedom to invest and build businesses, and the ability to create jobs.
“Ideology does not put food on the table. Employment does. Production does. Investment does. Economic growth does.”
He also pointed to a shift in relations with the United States, citing discussions in New York with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he said reflected “an important change” in the relationship between the two countries. Paz said Bolivia is seeking cooperation with the U.S. built on mutual respect, economic opportunity, security, investment, and shared interests, as the Trump administration has renewed its focus on economic strength and security cooperation across the Western Hemisphere.
Resources, but on Bolivia’s terms
Paz was careful to frame the opening as conditional, not a giveaway. “Bolivia is open for business,” he wrote. “But opening our economy does not mean selling our future.”
The country holds substantial natural gas, agricultural land, forests, and strategic minerals — including lithium, copper, and tin — all increasingly sought after in the global economy. Paz said Bolivia does not intend to simply extract and ship out raw minerals while other nations capture the manufacturing, technology, and jobs that come from processing them. Instead, he said Bolivia wants long-term partnerships centered on employment, training, technology, infrastructure, and added value produced inside the country.
His pitch to American and international investors: bring capital, technology and expertise, and be prepared to build, employ, and train alongside Bolivian workers and businesses. He said he told the United Nations that Bolivia wants to be “open to the world with dignity.”
Paz also said growth needs to reach ordinary Bolivians — better jobs, stronger institutions, education, security, and protections for forests, the Amazon, and Indigenous communities. He tied the country’s future directly to whether young Bolivians can find work and opportunity at home rather than leaving.
“Not everything has been resolved. We are only beginning,” Paz wrote. “But Bolivia will not remain on its knees. We will stand up, move forward, and build again.”
