The president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, has launched a new restructuring of the Executive when not even nine months have passed since the beginning of his term. With this adjustment, the process of slimming down the Cabinet continues: the portfolios go from 14 to twelve, well below the 21 that existed when he took over the Head of State. In this context, Fernando Aramayo leaves the head of Foreign Affairs to take on the portfolio of the Presidency, while Héctor Huanca, until now deputy minister, rises to minister of Foreign Relations.
"I welcome Fernando Aramayo as the new minister of the Presidency and Héctor Huanca as the new chancellor of the State," Paz has declared on social media, emphasizing that "both take on a new mission in the service of Bolivia in a stage that demands leadership, coordination, and a deep vocation for service" and expressing his confidence that "their experience will contribute to consolidating the transformations we are promoting and to continue putting Bolivia in the world and the world in Bolivia."
Huanca, who served as deputy minister of Consular and Institutional Management, thus takes the lead in Bolivian foreign policy after several weeks in which he had already assumed a visible role, repeatedly explaining the position and actions of the Ministry regarding the main issue it has had to face publicly during this period: the fraudulent recruitment of Bolivian citizens to fight in the war in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
In parallel, Paz has publicly expressed his gratitude to the now former ministers of the Presidency, José Luis Lupo, and of Development Planning and Environment, Fernando Romero. This last portfolio is eliminated, integrating and distributing its competencies among other departments of the Government.
Referring to Lupo, the president has valued his dedication in a "challenging" stage in which "he was tasked with helping to organize the house." About Romero, he has emphasized his role in "leading a reform that even integrates the ministry he himself headed." "That act of selflessness demonstrates that public service is above any position and that the interest of Bolivia must always come first," the head of State has added.
"The course does not change. We said it from the first day: first, we had to tidy up the house. Now begins the stage of deep transformations to build a more efficient State, generate more opportunities, and continue moving Bolivia forward," stated the president, born in Santiago de Compostela.
The other portfolio that disappears is that of Tourism, which ceases to have ministerial rank to become a National Agency, "with greater management autonomy, less bureaucracy, and more capacity to attract resources, promote Bolivia, and respond quickly to the opportunities that the country needs to seize," according to Paz.
"A State that demands effort from its citizens must also be capable of transforming itself. That is why we continue to advance in the reduction of the State," emphasized the leader, insisting that "reducing the State does not mean an absent State; it means a more efficient, more agile State at the service of Bolivians."