Inauguration As was the case with Evo Morales during his presidency, an ancestral inauguration act at the
Tiwanaku archeological site—a reaffirmation of the indigenous roots of the MAS—was scheduled for Arce. However, due to austerity and biosafety concerns related to the economy and pandemic, it was decided that a formal event would not be held. At dawn on 6 November, Arce and Choquehuanca were symbolically inaugurated at a private ceremony held at the Tiwanaku citadel, in the company of just a few officials. There, the pair were handed the traditional batons of command by Aymara
amautas amid prayers and offerings delivered to
Pachamama, the Andean goddess of fertility. The official inauguration act took place on 8 November in La Paz. On 28 October, Foreign Minister
Karen Longaric confirmed that Morales would be allowed to return from exile to attend the ceremony. However, the following day, Longaric retracted the offer, stating that "Morales has been hostile to the Bolivian democratic process and his presence in the country will generate social and political tension". Also not in attendance was still-president Jeanine Áñez, who left La Paz and retired to her residence in Beni a day before the end of her mandate. Despite initially stating that he would not go, Mesa later announced his intent to attend the inauguration. However, he and the entire CC bloc left the hemicycle of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly prior to the end of the ceremony as an act of protest against the two-thirds regulation. As such, the only former president to attend the entire event was
Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé. Foreign dignitaries to the event included three presidents, fifteen international delegations, and seventeen foreign social organizations. Presidents
Alberto Fernández of Argentina,
Iván Duque of Colombia, and
Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay, as well as King
Felipe VI of Spain, all attended. Chilean President
Sebastián Piñera declined his presence in order to focus on urgent government matters after initially having announced that he would attend; Foreign Minister
Andrés Allamand arrived in his stead. Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro's presence was vetoed by the interim government due to the fact that it
did not recognize his administration. Arce was sworn in as the sixty-seventh president of Bolivia at the front of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. In his inaugural address, he promised to lead "a new stage in our history ... [in] a government that is for all without discrimination of any nature". He outlined his intent to "defeat" the pandemic and pledged to turn around the nation's faltering economy which he blamed the interim government for having "shattered". In addition, he criticized the Áñez administration, labelling it a
de facto government that led an "internal and systematic war against the people". At the same time, he promised to "govern with inclusion ... , hoping to be remembered as the government that restored hope and social justice".
Domestic policy Coca production A pressing issue for the incumbent administration was settling a clear policy on
coca production. Each of Arce's predecessors had taken radically different approaches on the matter. Throughout his three terms, Morales' administration worked to recognize coca cultivation as a legitimate source of income. His government implemented a "community coca control" program that sought to work directly with
cocaleros to regulate legal production. Following his resignation, the Áñez government took a hardline approach, announcing its intent to destroy the "very core of drug trafficking". Writing for
InSight Crime, journalist Parker Asmann stated that Arce's administration would need to "strike a balance between supporting traditional uses of coca and curtailing drug production and trafficking". The two primary coca-producing regions are the highland
Yungas and the lowland
Chapare. According to some experts, around thirty percent of coca cultivated in the Yungas is used to make
cocaine, while ninety percent produced in the Chapare is converted into the drug. Morales' government legalized the cultivation of coca in the Chapare in 2017, a decision criticized by Yungas farmers, who said the product was "surplus coca". During his administration, Arce fostered new uses for the leaf. On 11 January 2022, in commemoration of National Coca Chewing Day, the government announced its intent to sponsor the production of "toothpaste made from coca". Certain
alkaloids contained in the leaf have been known to neutralize cavities. The first step in the project was the establishment of a factory to produce the toothpaste, with Arce stating that "later others will come". In June, Arce established the Public Productive Company for the Industrialization of the Bolivian Coca Leaf (KOKABOL), charged with producing and marketing products derived from coca. The decree establishing the
state-owned enterprise—based in
Sacaba with planned branches throughout the national territory—also authorized the Ministry of Economy to make an initial "capital contribution" of approximately US$8.9 million for its development.
COVID-19 pandemic On 30 December 2020, Arce and the
Russian Direct Investment Fund reached an agreement to supply Bolivia with 5.2 million doses of the Russian
Sputnik V vaccine, enough to immunize 2.6 million people with two doses. The government granted emergency approval for the vaccine on 6 January 2021, with the first shipments arriving later that month. Immunization for individuals over fifty years of age began on 13 May. Arce, then-fifty-seven, initially stated that he "intended to be the last to be vaccinated". However, he ultimately chose to receive his first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine at a hospital in
El Alto on 24 May as a "signal for the population". Arce was given his second dose at the La Paz Health School on 22 October, where he reiterated his call for Bolivians to get vaccinated. In addition to Sputnik V, Arce's government also signed a contract with the
Serum Institute of India for the supply of five million doses of the
Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. With both vaccines combined, Arce stated that the government now had the capacity to fully inoculate the country's entire vaccinable population with two doses. On 11 February, a separate agreement between Bolivia and
Sinopharm was reached, providing for the sale of 400,000 doses of the
Sinopharm vaccine and an additional donation of another 100,000 doses. During a speech at the
Ibero-American Summit held in Andorra, Arce called on
World Trade Organization (WTO) and the
World Intellectual Property Organization to release patents on vaccines and medications meant to combat COVID-19. He denounced the "hegemonic pharmaceutical industry" for, in his view, harming "billions of human beings" by maintaining patents on life-saving medication and demanded that they release their anti-COVID drugs into the public domain for use by all nations. At the initiative of the Arce government and the
United Nations Development Programme, Bolivia convened the forum "Release of patents and intellectual property considerations in the context of COVID-19", hosted by the
Public University of El Alto on 13 May. At the forum, the attending parties issued a call for the suspension of intellectual property rights on vaccines. Days earlier, Arce initiated a process with the WTO in order to compel
Johnson & Johnson to waive its vaccine patent, allowing the Canadian firm Biolyse Pharma to produce fifteen million doses of the
Janssen vaccine. In order to "protect public health and prevent its loss or deterioration", Arce enacted Law N° 1359, the
Health Emergency Law, on 17 February 2021. The policy came into effect despite the lack of a negotiated agreement with the country's public health sector, who on 5 February declared the entire content of the law to be in violation of the Constitution at an emergency meeting in
Santa Cruz de la Sierra. On 18 February, the National Health Council of Bolivia (CONASA) declared an indefinite
general strike in opposition to the law. In response, Arce issued Supreme Decree N° 4542 on 14 July, which regulated the original law by allowing the government to impose sanctions and administrative measures as well as criminally prosecute those who suspend or interrupt health services. The regulation was described as "dictatorial" by CONASA and led numerous other health unions, including the Union of Medical Branches of Public Health of La Paz (SIRMES), to declare themselves in emergency and announce further protests against the government. To promote an increase in vaccinations, Arce issued a Supreme Decree N° 4641 on 22 December mandating that individuals provide
proof of vaccination or a negative
PCR test to access most public institutions, including banks and airports, as of
New Year's Day 2022. In its first week, the mandate achieved its intended effect of boosting vaccinations, with daily inoculation figures rising from 2,000 per day to around 100,000. However, protests from traditionally government-aligned unions led the administration to back down on the policy, with Minister of Health
Jeyson Auza announcing on 6 January a suspension of the mandate until the twenty-sixth. By 19 January, continued mobilizations and some street clashes by anti-vaccine groups led the government to permanently suspend the policy to avoid "unnecessary measures of violence". The move was criticized by numerous regional authorities of the opposition, many of which announced that they would maintain their own vaccine passport measures in place. Political analysts noted that the government's speed in conceding defeat indicated a weakness when faced with popular discontent from the MAS'
political base compared to protests from the opposition: "The MAS is afraid ... that a real opposition can be generated ... , and the best way to try to avoid that is to back down". On the other hand, Arce faced criticism for retiring the
flag of the Patujú flower—emblem of the eastern indigenous peoples—as a co-official flag, alongside the Wiphala and
national tricolor, from official acts of government, as his predecessor had done. Only the
Patujú flower—not the flag—is prescribed as a patriotic symbol of the State by the Constitution. Upon inaugurating his new cabinet on 9 November 2020, Arce pledged to re-establish the
Ministry of Cultures. The office was established in 2009 during the Morales administration, but the Áñez administration had abolished it in June to reduce government expenditure. The reconstituted ministry—dubbed the Ministry of Cultures, Decolonization, and Depatriarchalization—was created through Supreme Decree N° 4393 on 13 November, and
Sabina Orellana was appointed to head it on 20 November. On 13 January 2021, Arce instituted the
Chakana cross as the government's official logo, replacing the previous logo promulgated by Áñez after just a year in use. The cross displays twenty-four fabrics, symbols, and textures, representing a variety of
textile designs from the various regions of Bolivia. Arce assured that representing "the identity of each Bolivian is the most important thing so that the country moves forward, integrated, united, and inclusive".
Economy To mitigate the effects of the pandemic and reactivate domestic markets, Arce enacted a "Bonus against Hunger" totaling Bs1,000, benefiting some four million unemployed Bolivians above eighteen and below sixty years of age. The program was funded through a credit from the
World Bank, amounting to US$54 million, and the
Inter-American Development Bank, amounting to US$450 million, for a total of US$504 million. The distribution period for these payments began on 1 December and expired on 1 March 2021. On 16 April, the deadline was extended to 31 May due to the inability of some beneficiaries to receive their bonus. During the first payment stage between December and March, 4,015,364 people benefitted from the payments. A further 20,409 individuals received their bonus between April and May, totaling 4,035,773 beneficiaries nationwide. The Ministry of Economy reported that a total of Bs4,305 million were allocated to the population during the course of the program. Shortly into his term, Arce announced a series of policies aimed at rectifying what he viewed as erroneous economic decisions made by the transitional government. "The
neoliberal model that was implemented for eleven months will be dismantled. In 2021 we will have a recovery", he said. On 28 December 2020, Arce enacted Law N° 1357
Tax on Large Fortunes, a permanent yearly
wealth tax on those with a personal wealth above US$4.3 million. The law established the gradual increase in tax collection, with a 1.4 percent levy on those with a personal wealth ranging between US$4.3 million and US$5.7 million; 1.9 percent from US$5.7 million to US$7.2 million; and 2.4 percent on fortunes larger than that. The measure applied to all assets stored in accounts at home or abroad by any persons residing in Bolivia—including foreigners—for more than 183 days. The fine for failing to comply with this measure was equivalent to 200 percent of the initial amount due. The Ministry of Economy initially estimated that the new legislation would allow the government to collect Bs100 million (US$14.3 million) in taxes from 152 registered individuals. By 2021, it was announced an amount of approximately Bs240.1 million from 206 registered individuals had been collected, an overperformance of 240.1 percent from the initial goal. Of the amount collected, Bs237.2 million came from citizens residing in the country—206 taxpayers—while Bs2.9 million came from those living abroad—six taxpayers. On 18 February 2021, Arce announced that he had ordered the Central Bank to return an
International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan totaling US$327 million previously granted to the Áñez government as aid for the economic crisis. Aside from the base price of paying back the loan, the move additionally cost the country another US$24 million in interest and commissions. The Central Bank justified that the government's decision was "in defense of [Bolivia's] national sovereignty", as the loan was conditioned on certain economic policies, and the Constitution prohibits the acceptance of such impositions by foreign institutions. In a letter to the Legislative Assembly, the IMF denied that fact. Writing for
Americas Quarterly, Richard Lapper stated that the determination seemed "[more] influenced by the need to discredit the previous government, rather than any kind of broader economic logic"—on 28 June, Carlos Schlink, former vice minister of the treasury, was detained as a result of a criminal investigation into the loan. Lapper wrote that in August, the government had received a nearly identical loan from the IMF for $US326.4 million, which had prompted the opposition to accuse Arce of accepting "the same credit that it recently criminalized". Nearing the end of 2021, Arce's economic policies had achieved a 9.4 percent increase in the country's
GDP, reversing the previous year's historic decrease of 8.8 percent. In a speech commemorating Plurinational State Day on 22 January 2022, Arce lauded his economic achievements, pointing out that Bolivia was the third fastest-growing economy in the region and highlighting that the country suffered the lowest
inflation rate in South America at just 0.9 percent. Other positive aspects he pinpointed were that Bolivia had registered a
trade surplus for the first time in seven years and the twenty percent reduction in the
wealth gap, the lowest such gap in the country's history. Political analyst Marcelo Arequipa noted that Arce's economic measures in 2021 had "managed to stabilize the economy [although] not make it grow", and that one of the president's main objectives in 2022 would be to conduct economic growth beyond pre-pandemic levels. Arce officially codified the wage increase into law on 1 May as part of a ceremony celebrating
Labor Day in
Oruro. At the event, the president also signed three other decrees into law, including granting workers the right to
paid leave in the case of a death in the family,
marriage, or birthday.
Judiciary Arrest and trials of former leaders The former rival president Áñez was apprehended and charged with crimes related to her role in the alleged coup d'état of 2019; a move decried as political persecution by members of the political opposition. Áñez's nearly fifteen month pre-trial detention caused a marked decline in her physical and mental health, and was denounced as abusive by her family. On 10 June 2022, after a three month trial, the First Sentencing Court of La Paz found Áñez guilty of breach of duties and resolutions contrary to the Constitution, sentencing her to ten years in prison. Following the verdict, her defense conveyed its intent to appeal, as did government prosecutors, seeking a harsher sentence. However, international organizations such as the European Union consider Añez as a political prisoner and condemn "‘the arbitrary and illegal detention of former interim President Áñez, two of her Ministers, and other political prisoners’ and called ‘on the Bolivian authorities to release them immediately and drop the politically motivated charges against them’. For its part, the U.S. State Department also considers Áñez a political prisoner.
Femicide , 8 March 2022.|240x240pxThe need for urgent judicial reform was highlighted in the wake of the arrest of
Richard Choque, the so-called "sexual psychopath" whose victims approximated seventy-seven women. Choque had been sentenced to thirty years in prison for one such
femicide in 2013 but was revealed to have been released in 2019 by Magistrate Rafael Alcón, who granted him
house arrest on the grounds of good behavior and alleged incurable illness. Choque went on to commit two more femicides and participated in instances of
trafficking and abuse of dozens of women before being rearrested. After this information came to light, Alcón was dismissed and arrested, accused of prevarication for granting the rapist freedom "without the right to pardon", as reported by Minister of Justice
Iván Lima. The news generated outrage across the country. On 31 January 2022, a popular mobilization of women marched through La Paz demanding justice and denouncing several other judges and prosecutors accused of releasing individuals who faced criminal processes for femicide or rape. In a meeting with Minister of Government
Eduardo del Castillo and Presidential Spokesman Jorge Richter,
María Galindo, representative of the
Mujeres Creando collective, issued a letter to Arce calling on him to form a "high-level" commission to review cases of femicide and rape for possible instances of corruption, interference in investigations, or dubious delays of justice. On 1 February, Arce announced the formation of the Rape and Femicide Case Review Commission set to meet on 4 February with the aim of issuing conclusive results within a maximum period of 120 days. The commission was initially made of: the minister of the presidency,
María Nela Prada; of justice, Iván Lima; the president of the Chamber of Senators,
Andrónico Rodríguez; of the Deputies,
Freddy Mamani Laura; of the
Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Ricardo Torres; of the Judicial Council, Marvin Molina; of the Constitutional Court, Paul Franco, the State attorney general,
Wilfredo Chávez; and the prosecutor general, Juan Lanchipa. The commission faced complaints from numerous groups, mainly due to the lack of presence of any independent representatives. Mujeres Creando noted that, in its present composition, the commission could "become politicized". Jurist
Juan del Granado lambasted it for the fact that it was entirely conformed of members of the MAS when "it was the MAS that since 2011 took over the judicial branch with its militants ... . So who will investigate whom?" Opposition senator
Andrea Barrientos noted that of the ten commission members, only one was actually a woman: "Pure men want to solve how they kill us women. They are an embarrassment!". Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, who presided over the now-defunct
Supreme Court, stated that the "population expects solutions, not commissions" and implored Arce to "summon the organs of power"—including the opposition—in order to achieve popular consensus on structural reform of the country's judiciary.In response to criticism, Arce expanded the size of the commission to include six more women, with Prada designated as the body's head. By the end of its 120-day term, the commission's investigation had led to the dismissal of ten judges and eight prosecutors. A total of fifty arrest warrants were issued through the Prosecutor's Office, leading to the recapture of twenty-one illegally released criminals..|274x274px|leftFollowing the conclusion of the commission's work, Arce promulgated the
Law for the Protection of Victims of Femicide, Infanticide, and Rape of Infants, Girls, Boys, or Adolescents. The legislation expanded the punishment for both rapists and corrupt officials, with an up to twenty-year sentence for judges found to have acted unlawfully and a ten-year sentence for prosecutors, judges, and police found guilty of acting against victims. House arrest was eliminated as a means of confining accused rapists, and delays in the judicial system could no longer be cited as a reason for the cessation of preventative detention. To prevent long wait times in judicial processes—often lasting multiple years—contending parties were granted the option to request the prompt dispatch of processes within a period of ten days. Courts failing to comply with these may face criminal proceedings for delaying justice.
Judicial reform At the inauguration of the judicial and constitutional year on 3 January 2022, Arce committed his management to judicial reform, stating that the current state of the judiciary was "obsolete ... discriminatory, insensitive, and exclusive". He noted that in the previous two years, only forty-six percent of judicial cases had been resolved, with sixty-five percent of those deprived of liberty—approximately 11,000 people—being in
preventative detention without a sentence. Additionally, he pointed out that sixty-two percent of the nation's courts remained located in cities, leaving around 1.3 million people without access to justice. Arce pledged that the government would seek to address these issues at a justice summit scheduled for March. Through this, the president expressed his desire that Bolivia "become a model of justice in the Latin American region". At the government's invitation, Bolivia received an official visit from
Diego García-Sayán,
United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Between 15 and 22 February, García-Sayán conducted a series of meetings with various political, governmental, and judicial authorities to assess the state of the Bolivian judicial system, concluding with a personal encounter with Arce. In his preliminary observations, the rapporteur lamented that the prison system failed to comply with the UN's
Mandela rules and that the judiciary faced serious shortcomings, especially regarding women's access to justice. García-Sayán concluded that "in Bolivia, justice is far from the people" and announced that he would expedite the schedule for his official report, bringing it forward to June 2022 rather than 2023, as originally planned.
Security Despite a comfortable electoral victory in October 2020, the government of Luis Arce was viewed as fragile in September 2021. It enjoyed broad support among the lower-paid sectors of the population, such as peasants and miners, but was contested by most of the urban middle class as well as by almost all of the upper classes. The opposition thus includes most of the country's de facto powers: the economic elite, the churches, the universities, professional associations and the mainstream media. At the behest of the
United Nations, the Arce administration assumed international commitments to combat
terrorism and its
financing. On 2 July 2021, Arce delivered a draft bill against the legitimation of illicit profits, financing of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The main substance of the proposal was primarily technocratic, focused on combating
money laundering in the country. Its policies were largely copied from similar ones already in place in European countries. The
Chamber of Deputies approved the bill without opposition support on 17 September, and its passage in a similar manner by the
Senate was expected. The proposed law faced backlash from the opposition, who considered it "draconian" due to the alleged extraordinary powers given to government agencies to conduct investigations into individuals, empowering
political persecution. Senator Andrea Barrientos pointed out that its lack of a definition for "suspicious operations" allowed the Financial Investigations Unit (UIF) and Prosecutor's Office to investigate the earnings of and expropriate assets from "whomever you want" on simple suspicion. Government-aligned trade unions and merchants also protested, describing the law as "cursed". In Bolivia, where eighty percent of the economy is predicated on commercial transactions carried out outside of the financial system, the bill's view of such dealings as especially vulnerable to criminal organizations aroused concern and suspicion. Discontent with the legislation led Arce to face his first major protests during his presidency. On 11 October, trade unions, civic committees, and other groups demanding the law's repeal instituted blockades on transit routes in the cities of Cochabamba, La Paz, and Santa Cruz. Arce accused the opposition of promoting a coup d'état but assured that the "vast majority" of the populace would support him. The following day, ostensibly to celebrate Decolonization Day, he participated in several pro-government mobilizations in the three major protest cities, where he accused the right of not wanting to respect the results of the 2020 election. By 14 October, over 300,000 people had participated in mass nationwide demonstrations and strikes led by social and union organizations, with more marches and an indefinite strike by the meat sector planned for the ensuing days. Such widespread opposition forced Arce to withdraw the bill from the Senate to "not give rise to violence". Minister Lima pledged that the initiative would not be reintroduced for the remainder of Arce's term, expiring in 2025. In response to these criticisms, Arce defended that "you have to be crazy to think that our government is going to affect the poorest". Nonetheless, he celebrated the one-year anniversary of his presidency facing an indefinite strike from many of the countries most powerful trade unions. His management report delivered to the Legislative Assembly was drowned out by parliamentarians on both sides, with the opposition booing and blowing whistles while members of the MAS shouted supportive chants. To counteract the most serious elements of the mobilizations, police forces were deployed, with over 125 detainees throughout the country. Citing the fourth wave of the pandemic, the president also imposed sanctions on health workers who suspended their work to join the strikes. Finally, after weeks of protests, Arce announced the repeal of the second law on 13 November, so that there would be "no more excuses to continue paralyzing the economy". In October and November 2022, the pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee and Governor
Luis Fernando Camacho again organised strikes and demonstrations in the
Santa Cruz department to demand that the government bring forward by one year the population census, which was to determine the distribution of seats in parliament. The department's strong demographic growth should enable it to win several seats, as the last census was conducted in 2012. The movement extends to other demands, such as regional autonomy, which the head of the committee, Romulo Castro, has called for. The department had already experienced
secessionist unrest in 2008 which resulted in dozens of deaths. The blockade caused economic losses estimated at 1 billion dollars and clashes between strikers and non-strikers left at least four dead and more than 170 injured. The
United Nations has condemned the "unacceptable" violence, acts of racism against indigenous Ayoreo women attempting to picket in the east of the country, a case of gang rape, and attacks on pro-government peasant and worker social organisations.
Foreign policy , 9 July 2024 Arce's foreign policy was primarily characterized by its realignment of the country back to the traditional status quo prior to the removal of Morales. In his first diplomatic act as president, Arce restored relations with Iran and recognized the administration of Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate government of
Venezuela, discarding
Juan Guaidó, whom Áñez had previously recognized. In a ceremony at the
Plaza Murillo on 11 November 2020, ambassadors Mortessa Tabreshi of Iran and Alexander Yánez of Venezuela presented their diplomatic credentials to the president. On 20 November, the
Foreign Ministry reported that Arce had directed it to resume Bolivia's membership in the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the
Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). In particular, Arce described CELAC as the "best way" to integrate the Latin American region and called for the recovery of UNASUR as a continent-wide institution. In 2023, he criticized
Israel's actions in the
Gaza Strip during the
Gaza war. In June 2025, he denounced
Israeli strikes on Iran.
Argentina Arce met with Argentine president Alberto Fernández in the Chilean city of
Viña del Mar on 11 March 2022. There, the presidents discussed a proposal to build a roadmap for cooperation between both countries by developing joint policies in the scientific and technological fields. In the energy, Arce and Fernández took steps to conclude negotiations surrounding a Bolivian natural gas supply contract and agreed on the potential to advance electrical integration and interconnection between Yaguacuá in
Tarija and
Tartagal in
Salta. Arce made an official visit to
Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 April, where he held bilateral meetings with Fernández at the
Casa Rosada. Their negotiations primarily surrounded the sale of natural gas, with Bolivia agreeing to ship fourteen million cubic meters (m) of gas per day during the winter months. For this, Argentina agreed to pay between US$8 million and US$9 million for the first ten million m, with the price doubling to US$18 million for the remaining four million m. Though Argentina agreed to pay a higher price for the same volume of gas sent in 2021, it was still significantly less than what Buenos Aires would've paid to import
liquefied natural gas by ship. Additionally, Bolivia agreed to prioritize Argentina for the delivery of a further four million m at a price of US$18 million should Brazil not need it.
Chile In his presidential address commemorating
Día del Mar, Arce reiterated the country's maritime claim as an "open and pending" issue. In that regard, he presented a nine-point road map concerning continued negotiation with Chile towards the goal of sovereign access to the
Pacific Ocean starting with the resumption of a "bilateral approach ... through dialogue and negotiation, in order to identify formulas of understanding and integration between brother peoples". The second and third points regarded generating a "climate of peace and mutual trust" between the two countries, while promoting free transit and decreasing trade barriers faced by exports and imports in Chilean ports. Alternative avenues for maritime integration were also discussed, including the development of the Paraguay-
Paraná waterway project "to make our access to the
Atlantic Ocean effective" and the expansion of Bolivia's presence in the free ports granted to it by neighboring countries, particularly as regards the port of
Ilo, Peru, which Arce claimed could enable an alternative trade route to the Pacific. Hours later, Chilean Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand replied that, while his country was "willing to resume dialogue with Bolivia without delay", the issue of sovereign sea access had been "definitively resolved" by the
International Court of Justice, which in 2018 ruled that Chile was
not obligated to negotiate the issue. On 7 May 2021, Allamand announced that the two states had agreed to reopen dialogue for the first time since 2010 in a move towards reestablishing formal diplomatic relations that had been suspended since 1978. Critically, the agreed upon road map did not include Bolivia's maritime demand. Arce and the MAS celebrated the victory of left-wing former student leader
Gabriel Boric in the
2021 Chilean general election, with the president affirming that "Latin American democracy is strengthened" by his win. For his part, Boric signaled his will to "substantially improve relations" between the two countries and stated that the lack of a Chilean embassy in La Paz was a "shame". Arce and Boric shared two phone calls following the election, in which it was agreed to deepen their mutual bilateral agenda. The president personally attended Boric's inauguration on 11 March 2022, in which they discussed pending bilateral issues regarding visas for senior government officials, shared use of the
Silala aquifer, and Bolivia's maritime claim. Arce assured that Boric's presidency would "strengthen our ties of brotherhood, creating more bridges of integration". Boric also pledged that as president, he would seek to restore diplomatic relations with Bolivia: "I think it is absurd that two neighboring countries with a common history ... have not had diplomatic relations for so long." He predicated this hope on the stance that "Chile does not negotiate its sovereignty". The following week, during his annual Día del Mar address, Arce declared that the maritime issue constituted one of the "permanent and inalienable objectives of the Bolivian State". Therefore, any reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Chile could only commence within the framework of a solution to the territorial dispute.
Cuba Arce made two official visits to Cuba during his administration; both times to attend the Summit of ALBA Heads of State hosted in
Havana. On the first occasion, on 14 December 2021, the president issued an official apology on behalf of the Bolivian government for the "abuses and multiple forms of aggression" inflicted by the previous administration. Under Áñez, Bolivia had suspended diplomatic relations and arrested multiple
expatriate doctors on charges of being involved in violent protests. Soon after assuming office, Arce moved to re-establish relations between the two countries. In his second visit to Havana on 27 May 2022, Arce conveyed his government's goal to formally "relaunch" bilateral relations. In a meeting with Cuban President
Miguel Díaz-Canel, the two heads of state discussed cooperation in developing their pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries and extending previously established education programs.
Mexico At the invitation of Mexican President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Arce made his first foreign visit to Mexico on 23 March 2021, with official acts beginning the following day. Upon Arce's arrival, the two presidents announced the resumption of bilateral relations between their states—effectively suspended by the Áñez government due to Mexico's decision to grant asylum to Morales. Arce expressed his happiness to return to the country "no longer as a refugee". Among the major topics on the 22-point agenda was the expansion of the Latin American region's access to medicines and vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Further integration of the region through the CELAC was also discussed. In that sense, it was announced that the two governments had reached an agreement to lift visa requirements for Bolivians travelling to Mexico starting from 24 May. López Obrador and Arce also highlighted the need to adopt new mechanisms for foreign debt relief for low-income countries through longer terms and "reasonable" interest rates. Additionally, the two presidents released a joint statement calling on the
Organization of American States (OAS) to refrain from interfering in the internal matters of its member states. The OAS had played a major role in the 2019 crisis by denouncing alleged electoral fraud, culminating in Morales' resignation. The Paraguayan president also expressed interest in extending Bolivian gas pipelines into the
Asuncion Metropolitan Area, facilitating greater economic integration between the two countries.
Russia Under Arce, bilateral relations with Russia were strengthened. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov stated that relations between the two countries had "become noticeably stronger in recent months" and noted that by October 2021, Arce and Russian President
Vladimir Putin had conversed via phone at least three times since the Bolivian president's inauguration. Apart from their shared cooperation in the procurement of Sputnik V vaccines, Russian companies such as
Gazprom and the state atomic consortium
Rosatom conducted numerous public works in Bolivia relating to the extraction of
natural gas and
lithium and the expansion of the use of
nuclear energy for medical, industrial, and agricultural purposes. On 6 March 2022, Arce inaugurated the Center for Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy in
El Alto, a project developed by Rosatom. Arce expressed his joy that, through the institute, Bolivians would no longer need to travel abroad to seek cancer treatment, as he had been forced to do in 2017. With the capacity to treat 36,000 cancer patients a year, Arce assured that the institute would help achieve "medical sovereignty" for Bolivia. When
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Bolivia was noted as one of the few Latin American states alongside Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela that refused to condemn Russian actions. The Arce administration, through the Foreign Ministry, maintained a neutral stance, reaffirming the country's position as a "pacifist state" and calling on the warring parties to "seek [peace through] political-diplomatic solutions". Bolivia was one of thirty-five countries and the only country in South America to abstain from voting on a
United Nations resolution condemning Russia, a move condemned by much of the opposition. Former president
Jorge Quiroga lamented the position of the Arce administration as an "international ignominy" that "leaves [Bolivia] as a diplomatic pariah". Later, Arce justified that Bolivia's policy of abstention towards matters relating to Russia had allowed the country to avoid "galloping inflation [and] food shortages". He went on to state that the country's stance "shows us as a sovereign country, not aligned with the interests of imperialism", which he credited for having started the conflict.
United States The United States congratulated Arce on his 2020 electoral victory, with the outgoing
Donald Trump administration expressing that it looked forward to working with the new government. For his part, Arce stated that "Bolivia needs to open up [bilateral relations] ... to all countries"—including the US—within the framework of respect for sovereignty and "above all" equality between states. "There are no big or small countries", Arce assured. On the date of his inauguration, Arce signaled that the
election of
Democratic politician
Joe Biden could translate into better relations between La Paz-Sucre and Washington, D.C. Even so, the US under the Biden administration criticized indications of "anti-democratic behavior" during Arce's government. In particular, the
US Department of State expressed
due process concerns following the apprehension of Áñez, with Secretary of State
Antony Blinken calling on the Arce administration to release detained former officials as their arrests were "not consistent with Bolivia's democratic ideals". In 2022, the Department of State published its annual
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, in which it accused Arce's government of being "more interested in Áñez's imprisonment than in giving her a fair trial". In response, the Bolivian government discarded the report as an "interference" in the country's internal affairs. For his part, Arce disapproved of the US government's position in the region. In particular, the president objected to the exclusion of "sister countries" in US initiatives. In 2021, Bolivia was excluded from the US-led
Summit for Democracy—despite the participation of outwardly authoritarian regimes—and in 2022, Arce joined other Latin American leaders in boycotting the
9th Summit of the Americas if delegates from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were not allowed to attend. Similarly, on 1 February 2021, Arce abrogated an Áñez-era decree providing for visa-free travel for US and Israeli citizens seeking to enter the country. The president justified the repeal on the grounds that the measure failed the principle of reciprocity by "unilaterally [benefiting] Israeli and US citizens without their countries granting a similar benefit".
Official international trips Article 173 of the
Constitution of Bolivia allows the president to leave Bolivian territory on official mission for a period of up to ten days without requiring authorization from the
Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Luis Arce during the first 36 months of his presidency, from 8 November 2020 to 8 March 2024.
2020 Trip to Brazil in December 2020 (First trip): On 11 December 2020, the Bolivian government announced that the first official foreign trip of President Luis Arce would be to
São Paulo, Brazil, to undergo a routine medical examination following his recovery from
kidney cancer. On 13 December, Arce temporarily transferred presidential authority to Vice President
David Choquehuanca and stated he would return within two days. He returned to Bolivia on 15 December and resumed his duties. (FAB-001) used for international trips by the president.
2021 Trip to Mexico in March 2021 (First trip): On 23 March 2021, Arce traveled to
Mexico City to meet with the
President of Mexico,
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at the
National Palace and attend the Mexican president's morning press conference. Arce later laid a floral tribute at the monument to the
Niños Héroes and was declared
"Distinguished Guest of Mexico City" by
Claudia Sheinbaum,
Head of Government of Mexico City. He also participated in a formal session of the
Mexican Senate. The following day, Arce and López Obrador traveled to the
Campeche region to commemorate the
Battle of Chakán Putum.
Trip to Venezuela in June 2021 (First trip): Arce arrived in
Caracas on 24 June 2021 to attend a summit of the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) and meet Venezuelan president
Nicolás Maduro.
Trip to Peru in July 2021 (First trip): On 28 July 2021, Arce traveled to
Lima to attend the
inauguration of Pedro Castillo. The following day he traveled to
Ayacucho to attend the symbolic swearing-in ceremony and the commemoration of the
Battle of Ayacucho.
Trips to Mexico and the United States in September 2021 (Second trip): On 17 September 2021, Arce traveled again to Mexico City to attend the VI summit of the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
(First trip): On 22 September 2021, Arce traveled to the United States to attend the 76th session of the
United Nations General Assembly in
New York City.
Trip to the United Kingdom in October 2021 (First trip): On 30 October 2021, Arce traveled to
Glasgow, Scotland, to participate in the
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Trip to Brazil in November 2021 (Second trip): On 15 November 2021, Arce traveled again to São Paulo where he met representatives of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores and Bolivian migrant communities. The trip generated criticism because it took place during domestic protests against Law 1386 regarding anti-money laundering legislation.
Trip to Cuba in December 2021 (First trip): President Arce traveled to
Havana in December 2021 to participate in official bilateral meetings and regional cooperation activities.
2022 First trip to Chile (March 2022) (First trip): President Arce traveled to Chile in March 2022 for bilateral diplomatic meetings and regional cooperation discussions.
First trip to Argentina (April 2022) (First trip): Arce visited Argentina in April 2022 to meet with Argentine president
Alberto Fernández to discuss cooperation on lithium production and electrical energy projects.
2024 coup attempt On 26 June 2024, following irregular troop movements in
La Paz, soldiers stormed the
Bolivian Presidential Palace as part of an apparent coup attempt against Arce. This occurred the day after
Juan José Zúñiga, commanding general of the Bolivian Army, was dismissed from duty by Arce. Evo Morales, whose relationship with Arce has become fraught by party rivalries, claimed soon after the fact that the attempted military takeover was instead a self-coup instigated by Arce to bolster popular support for the president. The accusation was repeated by members of the opposition, and other political actors in the continent.
Withdrawal On 14 May 2025, Arce announced that he would not seek a second term as president in the
2025 Bolivian general election, saying that he was seeking to avoid "dividing the popular vote" that allow right-wing and centrist parties to return to power. ==Post-presidency (2025–present)==