Bolivia’s Electoral Surprise Shows Limits of Billionaire’s Sway
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in La Paz, Bolivia, on Aug. 17.
Photographer: Marcelo Perez del Carpio/BloombergBolivia’s richest man went all out in this election cycle to publicly back a candidate that he thought could win the vote, unseat the ruling socialists and lift the nation out of acute economic crisis.
Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure endorsed pro-business candidate Samuel Doria Medina in July, citing opinion polls that showed him as the most likely winner out of four potential picks. But on Sunday, Claure’s pick came in third, missing out by a significant margin the possibility to dispute a run-off vote in October. The top candidate wasn’t even on Claure’s original slate of four potential hopefuls to back.