Resumo

TORRICO TERAN, Mario. ¿Qué ocurrió realmente en Bolivia?. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2006, vol.13, n.28, pp.231-261. ISSN 0188-7653.

This article seeks to dispute the explanations which assume that the process Bolivia is going through is similar to the processes other Latin-American countries are experiencing. These perspectives suggest the triumph of Evo Morales in the presidential elections of December 2005 was produced by the failure of the neoliberal policies carried out in this region during the period following the debt crisis of the eighties. Showing data that reveal that the bolivian economic performance in the neoliberal period was better compared to the performance of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, this article offers an alternative explanation, which not denying the poverty of the bolivian majorities, asserts that the breakdown of the political system and the parties that alternated in power for twenty years is the main factor explaining the rise of the first indigenous president.

Palavras-chave : Bolivia; neoliberalism; political pacts; elections; Movement toward Socialism; Evo Morales.