Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)
Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados): elections last held 6 June
1993 (next to be held May 1997); results - percent of vote by party
NA; seats - (130 total) MNR 52, UCS 20, ADN 17, MIR 17, CONDEPA 13,
MBL 7, ARBOL 1, ASD 1, EJE 1, PCD 1
Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores): elections last held 6 June
1993 (next to be held May 1997); results - percent of vote by party
NA; seats - (27 total) MNR 17, ADN 4, MIR 4, CONDEPA 1, UCS 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Political parties and leaders:
Left parties: Free Bolivia Movement (MBL), Antonio ARANIBAR; April 9
Revolutionary Vanguard (VR-9), Carlos SERRATE; Alternative of
Democratic Socialism (ASD), Jerjes JUSTIANO; Revolutionary Front of
the Left (FRI), Oscar ZAMORA; Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB);
Socialist Unzaguista Movement (MAS); Socialist Party One (PS-1);
Bolivian Communist Party (PCB)
Center-Left parties: Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Gonzalo
SANCHEZ DE LOZADA; Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), Jaime PAZ
Zamora, Oscar EID; Christian Democrat (PCD), Jorge AGREDA
Center-Right party: Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), Jorge
LANDIVAR, Hugo BANZER
populist parties: Civic Solidarity Union (UCS), Max FERNANDEZ Rojas;
Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA), Carlos PALENQUE Aviles;
Popular Patriotic Movement (MPP), Julio MANTILLA; Unity and Progress
Movement (MUP), Ivo KULJIS
Evangelical: Bolivian Renovating Alliance (ARBOL), Hugo VILLEGAS
indigenous: Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement (MRTK-L),
Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde; Patriotic Axis of Convergence (EJE-P),
Ramiro BARRANCHEA; National Katarista Movement (MKN), Fernando UNTOJA
Member of: AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Andres PETRICEVIC Raznatovic chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 through 4412 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Curt Warren KAMMAN embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 430251 FAX: [591] (2) 4339000
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band
@Bolivia:Economy
Overview: With its long history of semifeudal social controls, dependence on volatile prices for its mineral exports, and bouts of hyperinflation, Bolivia has remained one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries. However, Bolivia has experienced generally improving economic conditions since the PAZ Estenssoro administration (1985-89) introduced market-oriented policies which reduced inflation from 11,700% in 1985 to about 20% in 1988. PAZ Estenssoro was followed as President by Jaime PAZ Zamora (1989-93) who continued the free-market policies of his predecessor, despite opposition from his own party and from Bolivia's once powerful labor movement. By maintaining fiscal discipline, PAZ Zamora helped reduce inflation to 9.3% in 1993, while GDP grew by an annual average of 3.25% during his tenure. Inaugurated in August 1993, President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA has vowed to advance the market-oriented economic reforms he helped launch as PAZ Estenssoro's planning minister. His successes so far have included an inflation rate that continues to decrease - the 1994 rate of 8.5% was the lowest in ten years - the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico, and progress on his unique privatization plan. The main privatization bill was passed by the Bolivian legislature in late March 1994. Related laws - one that establishes SIRESE, the regulatory agency that will oversee the privatizations, and another that outlines the rules for privatization in the electricity sector - were approved later in the year.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $18.3 billion (1994 est.)