Bolivia Urges Strategy for Venezuela’s ‘Day After Maduro’

Bolivia's Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo speaks during a swearing in ceremony in La Paz on Nov. 9. Photo by Marcelo Perez del Carpio /Photographer: Marcelo Perez del

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(Bloomberg) — Bolivia’s new foreign minister said Venezuela’s crisis can only be resolved through a democratic transition anchored in institutions strong enough to survive “the day after” President Nicolas Maduro potentially leaves power.

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Drawing on Bolivia’s experience protecting elections that ended 20 years of socialist rule, Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo said Venezuela’s crisis must be resolved to prevent further fragmentation and polarization across Latin America.

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“We believe Bolivia is a strong example of what a democratic transition rooted in the will of the people and anchored in institutions can look like,” Aramayo said in a recent interview in Washington, while avoiding direct questions on whether Maduro should step down. “It may sound poetic, but Bolivia shows that it can be achieved — so why shouldn’t Venezuela be able to achieve it as well?”

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Aramayo said Bolivian officials traveled to Washington last week to lay the groundwork for support from multilateral lenders and from the Trump administration. The South American nation is seeking financing and investment to alleviate an acute shortage of dollars.

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The visit came as Washington remains heavily focused on Maduro’s regime in Venezuela, a longtime ally of past leftist governments in Bolivia, particularly under former President Evo Morales. The US is carrying out its largest military deployment in Latin American waters in decades, and on Tuesday ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going into and leaving Venezuela.

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As Venezuela will need international backing to emerge from years of crisis, Bolivia’s new President Rodrigo Paz is also seeking alliances — particularly among the growing bloc of conservative leaders in the region who are more closely aligned with Donald Trump.

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“This is a path we cannot walk alone,” Aramayo said. “And this is not only about money.”

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Washington’s Support

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Leading the Bolivian delegation alongside Finance Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza, Aramayo said the new government is focused on delivering the “right signals” to secure US economic support.

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Aramayo, who previously worked in development for the United Nations in Bolivia, met with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to discuss short-term strategic priorities to safeguard Bolivia’s fragile economy. He emphasized the importance of backing from the State Department, the US Treasury and Congress.

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Paz, the son of a former president and until recently a relatively little-known senator, won the Oct. 19 runoff, becoming the first conservative elected in 20 years and ending the rule of Evo Morales’s Movement Toward Socialism party, known as MAS. 

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He quickly eased fuel shortages and eliminated long lines at gas stations during his first days in office. But diesel queues have returned in recent weeks, and authorities acknowledged supply problems in early December amid a persistent dollar crunch.