<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of Congress, Francina Armengol, represented Spain this Saturday at the inauguration of Bolivia's new president, Rodrigo Paz, to whom she personally conveyed "our country's support."</strong></h4> "Today Bolivia begins a new path. I wish the Bolivian people all the best, a people full of hope. They are the greatest wealth of this wonderful country, and they must be the protagonists in this new stage," Armengol wrote on social media. "I had the honor of attending, on behalf of Spain, the inauguration of the new president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, whom I was able to congratulate personally, convey our country's support, and wish him luck and success for the benefit of all. They deserve it," she added. The King usually represents Spain at the inaugurations of Latin American presidents, a task that King Felipe has been performing since 1996 when he was still Prince of Asturias. However, on this occasion, he was unable to do so due to the King and Queen's state visit to China, which begins this Sunday. In these cases, Spain is usually represented by the Speaker of the Congress, as the third highest authority in the State. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who does not usually attend these events, traveled to Colombia this Saturday to attend the EU-CELAC summit. Armengol traveled accompanied by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo. <h5><strong>Rodrigo Paz, born in Santiago de Compostela</strong></h5> Rodrigo Paz Pereira, son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora and great-nephew of former president Víctor Paz Estenssoro (born in Santiago de Compostela in 1967, son of a Galician woman and nephew of the historic Galician nationalist leader Xosé Manuel Beiras), defeated former liberal-conservative president Jorge Quiroga in the second round of the Bolivian elections, held on October 19. His victory ended nearly twenty years of rule by the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the party of outgoing president Luis Arce, whose candidate, Eduardo del Castillo, garnered a mere three percent of the vote in the first round of the elections, held on August 17. Following his victory, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez congratulated him via social media and expressed his desire to continue “working together for solid and lasting cooperation.” For its part, the Government declared in a statement that “the Bolivian people and institutions have offered an example of civic responsibility and democratic and institutional respect during an exemplary election day, as confirmed by the Electoral Observation Missions present on the ground, supported by Spain.” “The Government of Spain extends its best wishes for success to the President-elect and reiterates its commitment to continue strengthening the close ties of brotherhood that unite Spain with the Plurinational State of Bolivia, for the benefit of both peoples,” it concluded.
