Rodrigo Paz Pereira

Rodrigo Paz Pereira was born on 22 September 1967 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the first-born son of Carmen Pereira Carballo and Jaime Paz Zamora, founder and head of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), future vice president (1982–1984), and future president (1989–1993). Paz spent his childhood and adolescence in political exile, a by-product of his father's political activity during the military dictatorships of the 1970s and early 1980s. He studied in numerous Jesuit schools in several countries, and when democracy was re-established in Bolivia, he attended the San Ignacio School in La Paz. Later, Paz studied at the American University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in international relations with a major in economics and a master's in political management.[1] During the presidency of Hugo Banzer —whose government was supported by the MIR— he worked as a commercial attaché at the Bolivian embassy in Spain and served as chargé d'affaires to the World Trade Organization.[2]

Together with his brother, Jaime Paz Pereira, he was one of the so-called "political heirs" of the country, a group of younger statesmen whose political careers had been facilitated by their connections to the country's prominent party leaders. In the 2002 general elections, the MIR nominated Paz as its candidate for Tarija in circumscription 49 (Avilés-Méndez), a major stronghold of support for the party. Winning the seat with a comfortable majority, he was elected to represent the district for the 2002–2007 National Congress.[2][3] Though the significant social conflicts of the time culminated in the collapse of the traditional party system, Paz's already-established political career survived. When the legislature's mandate was shortened by two years, he was presented by a diminished MIR as its candidate for Tarija in circumscription 46 (Cercado) for the 2005 general elections, in alliance with Social Democratic Power of Jorge Quiroga.[4][5]

In the 2019 general elections, PG signed an alliance with the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), which presented Paz's father, ex-president Jaime Paz Zamora, as its presidential candidate.[18] However, shortly thereafter, Paz Zamora withdrew his candidacy due to internal disagreements with the PDC, leading Paz to shift his support to Carlos Mesa of Civic Community (CC).[19][20] On 3 February 2020, PG finalized an alliance with CC, presenting Paz as the coalition's candidate for first senator for Tarija.[21][22]

During his tenure, Paz was a vocal proponent of census reform in light of the process scheduled for late 2022. In January of that year, Paz presented a bill to establish Departmental Institutes of Statistics (IDEs), aimed at generating departmental, municipal, and regional statistical information. If passed, the legislation would have decentralized the census process —overseen by the National Institute of Statistics (INE)— which Paz assured would make the 2022 census "a census of the people".[23] Paz also criticized a lack of transparency regarding what preparations and activities were underway to carry out the census. On 7 February, the CC caucus delivered a petition to the Ministry of Development Planning requesting a report on planned activities. By early March, CC noted that it had not received a response so far. Failing the creation of IDEs due to a lack of time to establish such institutions, Paz also proposed the formation of inter-institutional monitoring committees made up of governorates, municipalities, universities, regional chambers, social organizations, and other relevant groups to guarantee transparency in the process. [24]

• Chamber of Senators Directive (Second Vice President of the Senate; 4 November 2020 – 4 November 2021)[25]
• Rural Indigenous Nations and Peoples, Cultures, and Interculturality Commission (President; 10 November 2021–present)[26]