Amid protests and criticism, Rodrigo Paz announces the restoration of relations with the United States

Bolivia.- Bolivia’s President-elect, Rodrigo Paz, announced this Monday that his government will resume diplomatic relations with the United States, which were interrupted since 2008, and that he has already begun efforts with Washington and neighboring countries to guarantee the supply of fuel in the face of the serious shortage affecting the country.

“In the specific case of the United States, that relationship will be resumed,” Paz affirmed in his first press conference after his victory in the second round was confirmed.

The new president, a 58-year-old economist, obtained 54.61% of the votes in the runoff held this Sunday against former president Jorge Quiroga, according to provisional figures with more than 97% of the records reviewed by the electoral authority. It is scheduled to take office on November 8, while several groups of people have protested in La Paz rejecting the results of the second round of the presidential election and demanded an audit of the electoral process due to alleged irregularities, although without offering evidence of their complaints.

You can also read: Rodrigo Paz wins the second round of presidential elections in Bolivia

Dozens of people, mostly young people, marched to the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in La Paz with Bolivian flags shouting slogans against an alleged “fraud” and to demand “an audit of the elections”, according to one of the protesters, Conrad Arana, told the media. “They have flipped votes and as ‘Generation Z’, we are not going to allow them to commit fraud against us again,” Arana stated.