Bolivia's new leader, religious conservative Jeanine Añez Chavez, faces daunting challenges
Morales resigned after 13 years in office following weeks of protests and pressure over disputed presidential election result. Bolivian opposition senator Jeanine Anez has declared herself interim president after Evo Morales resigned from office before fleeing to Mexico. Añez, 52, is a religious conservative from the northeastern region of Beni, traditionally a stronghold of the opposition. An attorney and a former media executive, she began her political career in 2006 as a member of the constituent assembly. She was elected to the Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
Bolivia has been plunged into a state of crisis after Morales, who was first elected in 2006, was forced to stand down following weeks of protests and violence over a disputed presidential election result.
Morales, the leader of the leftist Movement for Socialism party, which has governed Bolivia for the past 13 years, had defied the country’s constitution by successfully running for a fourth term in October’s election – though the result was subject to allegations of fraud and manipulation.
Anez has now taken temporary control of the Bolivian senate after a series of senatorial resignations opened up a political vacuum, with Morales relinquishing his hold on power “so there would be no more bloodshed”.
A fierce critic of Morales’ politics and regime, Anez said she was next in line for the presidency and vowed to hold elections soon. Her assumption of power was endorsed by Bolivia’s Constitutional Court.