Bolivia's Housing Program Benefitted 150,000 Since 2006

The social housing programs promoted by President Evo Morales since 2006 benefitted more than 150,000 families according to Deputy Minister of Housing Javier Delgadillo.

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"From 2006 to 2018 we have reached 151, 058 families, that have benefited from social housing programs throughout the national territory," Delgadillo said.

The minister explained that in the past 13 years more than 21,000 houses were given to single mothers while about 12,000 elderly people also benefitted from these social programs.

Likewise, heads of families with disabilities received the support of the state. Around 3,700 persons with disabilities benefited, and another 900 homes will be built exclusively for them.

More than 3,500 families who lost homes due to natural disasters were benefitted immediately.

Since 2010, emergency programs have been implemented that benefited 4,821 families with a refurbished home, after they lost everything due to natural disasters, mainly floods, according to official information.

The Planning Department of the State Housing Agency (AEVivienda) explained that in the departments of Beni 2,038, in La Paz 1,069, Cochabamba 650, Santa Cruz 529, Pando 326, Tarija 106, Potosí 52, Chuquisaca 30, and Oruro 21 houses were built.

Delgadillo also said that since 2011 the Housing Program for Disaster and/or Emergency Care has been activated, which consists of the execution of housing projects for families who lost their only home as a result of a natural disaster and/or emergency.

According to a press release issued by the state entity, the replacement of housing for these 4,821 families affected by natural disasters demanded an investment of approximately 431, 837 million bolivianos (more than US$62 million).

The news comes just months before Bolivia goes to polls to vote in the presidential elections in which President Morales has been leading the polls against the right-wing opposition candidate Carlos Mesa. 

Such progressive policies and achievements will be key in shoring up support for Evo Morales as he seeks a third term in office in a region where the right-wing is surging. 

Despite economic realities in Latin America and abroad, Bolivia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world which allows the leftist government to keep up its social programs. 

In its 2018 report, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC) said Bolivia was enjoying 12 straight years of economic stability that keeps expanding — the country’s economy grew to 4.4 percent in 2018, a record for the Andean country ahead of Paraguay’s second place of 4.2 percent.

Bolivia’s economy is far ahead of the Latin American and Caribbean average of 1.2 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), well known in the region for implementing neoliberal austerity measures, as is the current case in Argentina, had also said that Bolivia’s growth has "one of the highest rates in the region" and projected that it will grow to 4.5 points in 2019, mainly by through an increase in oil and hydrocarbon prices and production.