Bolivia's Debate: MAS Proposes Communities in Action Program

During Saturday evening's all-candidates debate, very little little was mentioned on the necessity of local development. The right-wing used the opportunity to criticize the former Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) administration while candidate Luis Arce described his plan called Communities in Action.

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Candidate Luis Fernando Camacho from Creemos party said that he would prioritize the decentralization of the state and that he would deepen that decentralization in the sectors of education and health until 2023.

Candidate Maria de la Cruz Baya of Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) did not explain any detailed strategy to address local development. Instead, she criticized the centralization of finances and remarked that "investment has to take ideas into account."

On the other hand candidate, Luis Arce of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) launched a local development strategy called Communities in Action by which the government would support a poor community and help it with education, health, and above all, production. The MAS candidate remarked that this approach will allow them to attain food sovereignty in the wake of the neoliberal economic disaster left by the defacto regime.

Candidate Chi Huyn Chun of Frente para la Victoria insisted on his idea that the government has to support private businesses so those companies are the ones that handle public finances. In this sense, he said that the government has to give away all money to the municipalities.

Candidate Tuto Quiroga from Libre 21 Party reiterated his aims of converting all the western side of the country into a specialized lithium batteries manufacturing industry as he will reach a fiscal pact with the mayors and the departmental governments.

Candidate Carlos Mesa from Citizen Community said that he will carry out a tax reform to decentralize the tax collection and give that money to the municipalities. In this sense, the remarked that the autonomies system has not worked.