HE MAS (Movement to Socialism) faces a risk of becoming diminished as internal tensions intensify, a development that reverberates through Bolivia where elections loom in 2025. Evo Morales, the party’s historic leader, seeks a return to power through a process that remains uncertain. The current president, Luis Arce, who previously headed the economy, now presents a formidable obstacle to Morales’s ambitions. The rift within MAS widened after a congress held in Cochabamba, the coca-growing heartland that has long been a base of Morales’s influence. There, Morales-controlled leadership moved to eject Arce and his vice president, David Choquehuanca. Morales’s MAS also threatened to sanction dissenting lawmakers, a move that right-leaning factions view as more than a show of division: they see it as fuel for the party’s prospects at the ballot box.
Morales assumed the Bolivian presidency in 2006 and ushered in a sweeping reform agenda anchored by a new magna carta. In 2019 his bid for another term clashed with legal and political confrontations that forced him into exile. He returned only after Arce and MAS secured victory. The alliance with a former ally proved short-lived, and Morales’s ongoing ambition to relocate back to Palacio Quemado ignited clashes that unsettled social movements and fractured the party he founded.
“MAS will save our revolution, to save the country again, that is our vision,” Morales told supporters in a town in the tropical region of Cochabamba. The MAS congress pressed forward despite a protection request from Arce’s faction filed with the First Constitutional Chamber of the Santa Cruz regional court. The request sought a temporary deduction, a legal maneuver that intensified the dispute.
accumulated grudges
Morales’s antagonism toward Arce has left him in a position of de facto leadership aligned with opponents and with voices sympathetic to Jeanine Añez and other groups described as neoliberal. In recent months, Arce displaced Morales from the Ministry of Economy, citing performance improvements under his stewardship, including notable growth and controlled inflation. Morales, however, argued that his successor was not the true “himself” but rather a simple administrator of state resources. Arce dismissed the complaint, insisting that outcomes matter more than rhetoric.
Against this backdrop, the MAS congress was convened. Morales requested calm and urged his allies to acknowledge missteps. Yet the central issue remains Morales’s insistence on being the sole presidential candidate for 2025. In his words, “MAS, through careful distancing, will save the revolution and defend the homeland.” The government framed the split as a test of the party’s resilience and a measure of the movement’s future viability.
The fracture within the ruling party is reflected not only in formal debates but also in the voices of those who oppose Morales and publicly praise Arce’s leadership, policy acumen, and expertise in economic matters. Some of these pro-Arce positions emerge from factions within the peasant movement, suggesting a broader realignment across social sectors.
cult of personality
El Deber, a Santa Cruz newspaper not closely tied to MAS, observed that Morales has leveraged his long experience as a political figure and as a coca leader to sideline potential rivals, cultivating a distinctive cult of personality within the party. The publication argued that MAS had reached a critical crossroads, a point that contributed to a near paralysis of the Legislative Assembly as factions disputed strategy and direction. These dynamics point to a broader question about governance and party unity in a system where personal leadership remains a powerful force.
García Linera, Morales’s former vice president, reflected on the crisis with a measured voice. Although he did not align with any faction, he called for reconciliation, warning that continued division would damage MAS and Bolivia alike. He noted that Arce’s ascent, while not charismatic in the traditional sense, created a new bloc within MAS and granted him legitimacy and state support, helping him connect with social sectors, conduct studies, and cultivate temporary attachments that bolstered his base.
Morales remains on a distinct path within the party, arguing that his role embodies the indigenous roots and the history of mobilization that have defined his leadership. He warned that dissolving MAS would be disastrous for both the party and the country, signaling that the contest for the presidency in 2025 will test the durability of MAS’s foundational ideals against the evolving political landscape in Bolivia.