Libre (Bolivia)

Freedom and Democracy
Libertad y Democracia
AbbreviationLibre
LeaderJorge Quiroga
Founded17 December 2024[1]
Legalized17 April 2025[2]
IdeologyConservative liberalism[3]
Political positionRight-wing[3]
Colors  Red
  Blue
Slogan#EsConTuto

Freedom and Democracy (Spanish: Libertad y Democracia), abbreviated as Libre (Spanish: Free), is an electoral alliance in Bolivia formed by the Revolutionary Left Front (FRI) and the Social Democratic Movement (MSD) to contest the 2025 Bolivian general election. The alliance is led by former president Jorge Quiroga.[4]

The alliance was formed as Freedom and Republic (Spanish: Libertad y República) on 17 December 2024, a day before joining the Block of Unity, from which it split on 17 April 2025.[5][6][7]

History

Background

On 8 January 2020, Jorge Quiroga, President of Bolivia from 2001 to 2002, announced his candidacy for the 2020 general election.[8] In order to run, he formed an alliance with the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement and the Movement for Sovereignty, named Libre 21-Freedom and Democracy.[9] The alliance nominated Quiroga for president and Tomasa Yarhui for vicepresident.[10] With most of the opinion polls giving Libre 21 a vote share around 1% and 3%, the alliance dropped out from the race on 11 October.[11][12] The move, aimed at preventing Luis Arce from winning in the first round, failed as Arce won more than 50% of the vote on election day.[13]

2025 general election

Ahead of the 2025 general election, Quiroga announced his intention of mounting a presidential candidacy and suggested the Revolutionary Left Front (FRI) as the political vehicle to register his candidacy.[14] On 18 December 2024, former president Carlos Mesa, announced the formation of the Block of Unity, which would be conformed by former minister Samuel Doria Medina, former governor of Santa Cruz Luis Fernando Camacho and Quiroga himself.[15]

As most of the precandidates withdrew from the race in the successive months, the remaining candidates, Doria Medina and Quiroga, clashed over the method used to determine who would receive the nomination of the Block.[16] Eventually, Quiroga opted to split from the Block and register Libre as an independent alliance composed of the FRI and the Social Democratic Movement (MSD).[5][17] The alliance was registered in the Plurinational Electoral Organ on 17 April 2025, becoming the first alliance to do so.[2]

Composition

Party
Revolutionary Left Front (FRI)
Social Democratic Movement (Demócratas)

References

  1. ^ "Tuto Quiroga anuncia que quiere ser candidato a presidente y se acerca al FRI". Opinión Bolivia (in Spanish). 16 December 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b "TSE: Cinco alianzas fueron registradas para participar en las Elecciones Generales 2025". Órgano Electoral Plurinacional (in Spanish). 21 April 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Bolivia: ocho aspirantes en carrera hacia la presidencia, ¿quiénes destacan y qué proponen?". France24 (in Spanish). 9 August 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Tuto Quiroga inscribe alianza Libre para las elecciones generales - Periódico La Patria". lapatria.bo (in Spanish). 16 April 2025. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Tuto decide registrar la alianza 'Libre' de manera independiente hasta el 18 de abril". El Alteño (in Spanish). 8 April 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  6. ^ Deber, El (9 April 2025). "Tuto dice que el Bloque de Unidad no era una alianza y que él seguirá con su candidatura | El Deber". eldeber.com.bo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  7. ^ "TSE: Cinco alianzas fueron registradas para participar en las Elecciones Generales 2025". Órgano Electoral Plurinacional (in Spanish). 21 April 2025. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Tuto renuncia al cargo de delegado presidencial ante instancias internacionales". Correo del Sur. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  9. ^ "MNR y MPS presentan alianza Libre21, para postular a Tuto Quiroga". El País Tarija (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Tomasa Yarhui participó en Elige de Los Tiempos". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  11. ^ Hinojosa, Alejandra (12 October 2020). "Alianza de Tuto solicitó retiro formal de la contienda electoral y Bayá sigue en carrera". eju.tv (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  12. ^ Fides, Agencia de Noticias (9 May 2025). "Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga declina candidatura presidencial, a una semana de las elecciones - Agencias de Noticias Fides". Agencia de Noticias Fides - Bolivia (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  13. ^ "Luis Arce, del MAS, se impone en primera vuelta de presidenciales de Bolivia". RFI. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  14. ^ Bolivia, Opinión (16 December 2024). "Tuto Quiroga anuncia que quiere ser candidato a presidente y se acerca al FRI". Opinión Bolivia (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  15. ^ Fides, Agencia de Noticias (8 May 2025). "Seis agrupaciones políticas se reúnen y piden a precandidatos unificar a la oposición para el 2025 - Agencias de Noticias Fides". Agencia de Noticias Fides - Bolivia (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  16. ^ "Bolivia: inhabilitan a partido opositor para elecciones". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). 21 March 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  17. ^ "Tuto Quiroga sella acuerdo electoral con Demócratas y el FRI". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). 14 April 2025. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.