Bolivia gears up for first-ever presidential runoff, ending years of 1-party rule

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A day after the left-wing party that has governed Bolivia for 20 years lost a first-round presidential vote, the race was on Monday to see who will succeed it.

Sen. Rodrigo Paz, a center-right lawmaker from a prominent political family who scored a surprise first-place finish Sunday, will face right-wing former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in an Oct. 19 runoff.

Paz, who lagged in polls ahead of the vote, won 32% of the votes cast, while Quiroga received just over 26% and two candidates representing the governing Movement Toward Socialism party — known as MAS — each won less than 10%.

“This was no surprise. It may be a surprise for some sectors of power that did not want to face this reality,” Paz told The Associated Press after his win. “The vast majority of people have expressed a desire for renewal — merchants, the self-employed, transport workers, the great majority of this country.”

“It starts again from zero,” Quiroga said on Monday. “The clocks are reset for both tickets.”

Paz's popular running mate Edman Lara, a former police captain who was dismissed after denouncing internal corruption, spent Monday firing up his base in areas that overwhelmingly supported his ticket.

Quiroga did not appear at public campaign events on Monday.

In El Alto, a a satellite city perched high up on frigid plains overlooking of Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, hundreds of people packed the streets outside a cable car station to see Lara deliver a speech.

Chants of “El Alto, never on its knees!” and “Lara, friend, El Alto is with you!” rang out in what was long a Movement Toward Socialism stronghold.

Lara kept to the same broad points of his stump speech on Monday, combining highlights from his personal story condemning corruption and working informal jobs with criticisms of both the left- and right-wing establishments.

“The MAS members are not going to return to power, the traitors are not going to return to power,” he told supporters and journalists at Friday’s rally, drawing whoops and cheers from the jostling crowds. “We are going to give a signal that we do not want the old political caste of the left and the right anymore, we are tired of the same old people.”

“Samuel and Tuto ran their campaigns with millions; we ran ours with faith and with the people. And we did it,” Lara said.

His message resonated with supporters who are broadly cynical about politics.

“Lara is new. He’s not a politician who’s lived off politics his whole life,” said Luis Carvajal, a 47-year-old pastry shop owner who said he quit his job as a lawyer when he saw how bribes swayed judicial outcomes.

“In Bolivia, justice is bought. That’s why Lara’s message about corruption is very important. Bolivia needs policies against corruption now.”

Sunday’s election results signaled the end of an era for Bolivia’s MAS party, which has governed almost uninterrupted since charismatic ex-President Evo Morales rose to power as part of the “pink tide” of leaders who swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s.

El Alto, a largely ethnic Aymara city, helped vault Morales, the founder of MAS, to the presidency in 2006 as the nation’s first Indigenous president.

For years, residents here cheered Morales’ nationalization of gas reserves and benefited from his generous food and energy subsidies as a commodities boom generated a natural gas windfall for Bolivia.

But his party has imploded due to infighting and his economic model has gone bust.

Many in El Alto soured on the MAS party’s heavy state intervention and grew impatient with Morales' attempts to prolong his presidency.

Lara’s ethic of self-reliance and Paz’s promotion of what he calls “capitalism for all” has stirred up excitement in this sprawling city as Bolivia undergoes its worst economic crisis in almost four decades.

Bolivia's annual inflation rate has soared from 2% less than two years ago to 25% as of last month. A scarcity of fuel has paralyzed the country. A shortage of U.S. dollars needed to pay for essential imports like wheat has crippled the economy.

“We’re done with the MAS,” said Paz-Lara supporter Elisa Belecoña Calarara, 37. “It’s led us into decay and now we’re poor because of it.”

Whether Paz or Quiroga wins, Bolivia now faces a return to belt-tightening.

The main question is whether the fiscal adjustment involves harsh austerity and a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, as Quiroga pledges, or cuts to state spending, hiring freezes and tax amnesties, as Paz advocates.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

A voter looks at a ballot during general elections in Jesus de Machaca, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

An electoral official shows a null vote that has "Evo" — referring to former President Evo Morales who is barred from running — written on it, as they count votes after polls closed for general elections in Entre Rios, Chapare region, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz leaves after accompanying his daughter Catalina to vote during general elections, in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Freddy Barragan)

Presidential candidate Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, center, arrives at his campaign headquarter after early results in the presidential election in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Voters check electoral rolls during general elections in Jesus de Machaca, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Presidential candidate Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga arrives at his campaign headquarter after early results in the presidential election in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz, center, waves to supporters after early results showed him leading in the presidential election in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have indeed invoked the Insurrection Act more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded to Trump's post by saying he would challenge any deployment in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, and that residents are scared and angry.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the shot man was being treated for a non-life-threatening injury. The two others are in custody, DHS said. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.

Earlier Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota said what's happening in the state “defies belief.”

“Let’s be very, very clear: this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the bleeding, how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.

Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street near her home. Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.

Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.

Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground 2020.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.

A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)