Analysis
Bolivians are preparing to head to the polls on Aug. 17 to decide their future, which analysts and political insiders say could lead to better relations with the United States.
The South American nation has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades. Foreign currency—including dollars— is scarce, driving the annual inflation rate past 24 percent as of July, according to Bolivia’s Central Bank.
With a flattened local currency and inflated commodity prices across the board, the black-market U.S. dollar rate is more than double the officially posted exchange rate in the streets. Meanwhile, persistent fuel shortages have created long lines of angry locals at the pumps for months. Altogether, Bolivia’s multi-faceted economic crisis on the run-up to the election has laid the groundwork for the first elected regime change since Evo Morales and the Movement for Socialism Party (MAS) came to power in 2006….