Bolivia’s Congress resolves to replace economy minister, President Paz forced to fire Espinosa

(Central News Agency, La Paz, Comprehensive Foreign News Report on the 21st) Bolivia’s Congress voted to remove Economy Minister Espinosa. Because he avoided Congressional inquiries about the handling of the severe economic crisis, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz was forced to fire him today.

Agence France-Presse reported that Jose Gabriel Espinoza was replaced at a time when Bolivia is facing its most severe economic turmoil in 40 years, and center-right President Paz, who was elected last year, is under great pressure.

In response to Congress's vote to replace the Minister of Economy, the Bolivian authorities have filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court. The current Minister of Environment, Oscar Mario Justiniano Pinto, will temporarily act as Minister of Economy until the outcome of the lawsuit is released.

Congress voted on the 18th to remove Espinosa because he did not attend when lawmakers raised questions on economic issues.

Espinosa explained that he was unable to attend because he was scheduled to travel to the eastern city of Santa Cruz and then to Brazil.

The Bolivian government initially hesitated to replace Espinoza, insisting that Congress did not have enough votes, but Bas eventually gave in to Congressional pressure.

The timing of Espinoza's resignation is critical for the Bass government, which has only been in power for nine months. Earlier this year, the Bass government decided to abolish the fuel subsidy policy that had been implemented for decades and seriously depleted the national treasury's foreign exchange reserves, causing prices to double and public dissatisfaction boiling over.

Demonstrations broke out due to the deterioration of living conditions, and later escalated into protests and conflicts. Roads in major cities were blocked and people called for the president to step down.

Bass, which ended 20 years of socialist rule, declared a state of emergency in June and successfully quelled the unrest.