North Korea has stolen billions in cryptocurrency and tech firm salaries, report says.

Officials in Pyongyang orchestrated the clandestine work to finance research and development of nuclear arms, the authors of the 138-page report found. The review was published by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group that includes the U.S. and 10 allies and was set up last year to observe North Korea’s compliance with U.N. sanctions.

North Korea also has used cryptocurrency to launder money and make military purchases to evade international sanctions tied to its nuclear program, the report said. It detailed how hackers working for North Korea have targeted foreign businesses and organizations with malware designed to disrupt networks and steal sensitive data.

Despite its small size and isolation, North Korea has heavily invested in offensive cyber capabilities and now rivals China and Russia when it comes to the sophistication and capabilities of its hackers, posing a significant threat to foreign governments, businesses and individuals, the investigators concluded.

Unlike China, Russia and Iran, North Korea has focused much of its cyber capabilities to fund its government, using cyberattacks and fake workers to steal and defraud companies and organizations elsewhere in the world.

Aided in part by allies in Russia and China, North Korea’s cyber actions have “been directly linked to the destruction of physical computer equipment, endangerment of human lives, private citizens’ loss of assets and property, and funding for the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” the report said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The monitoring group is made up of the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom. It was created last year after Russia vetoed a resolution directing a U.N. Security Council panel of experts to monitor Pyongyang’s activities. The team’s first report, issued in May, looked at North Korea’s military support for Russia.

Earlier this year, hackers linked to North Korea carried out one of the largest crypto heists ever, stealing $1.5 billion worth of ethereum from Bybit. The FBI later linked the theft to a group of hackers working for the North Korean intelligence service.

Federal authorities also have alleged that thousands of IT workers employed by U.S. companies were actually North Koreans using assumed identities to land remote work. The workers gained access to internal systems and funneled their salaries back to North Korea’s government. In some cases, the workers held several remote jobs at the same time.

A message left with North Korea’s mission to the U.N. was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

David Klepper, The Associated Press

U.S. strikes eighth alleged drug-carrying boat, this time in the Pacific Ocean.

The attack Tuesday night was a departure from the seven previous U.S. strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean. Hegseth said on social media that the latest strike killed two people, bringing the death toll to at least 34 from attacks that began last month.

The strike represents an expansion of the military’s targeting area as well as a shift to the waters off South America where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled. Hegseth’s post also draws a direct comparison between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration’s crackdown.

“Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Hegseth said, adding “there will be no refuge or forgiveness -- only justice.”

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and proclaiming the criminal organizations unlawful combatants, relying on the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush’s administration when it declared a war on terrorism.
Targeting a boat in a thoroughfare for cocaine smuggling

In a brief video Hegseth posted Wednesday, a small boat, half-filled with brown packages, is seen moving along the water. Several seconds into the video, the boat explodes and is seen floating motionless on the water in flames.

The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, raising speculation that Trump could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.

In his posts on the strikes, Trump has repeatedly argued that illegal narcotics and the drug fentanyl carried by the vessels have been poisoning Americans.

While the bulk of American overdose deaths are from fentanyl, the drug is transported by land from Mexico. Venezuela is a major drug transit zone, but the eastern Pacific Ocean, not the Caribbean, is the primary area for smuggling cocaine.

Colombia and Peru, countries with coastlines on the eastern Pacific, are the world’s top cocaine producers. Wedged between them is Ecuador, whose world-class ports and myriad maritime shipping containers filled with bananas have become the perfect vehicle for drug traffickers to move their product.

The administration has sidestepped prosecuting any of the occupants of the alleged drug-running vessels after returning two survivors of an earlier strike to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.

Ecuadorian officials later said they released the man that was returned, saying that they had no evidence he committed a crime in their country.
Questions from Congress as strikes continue

Lawmakers from both political parties have expressed concerns about the military actions. But the Republican-controlled Senate recently voted down a Democratic-sponsored war powers resolution, mostly along party lines, that would have required the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes.

Some Republicans have asked the White House for more clarification on its legal justification and specifics on how the strikes are conducted, while Democrats insist they are violations of U.S. and international law.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has clashed with Vice President JD Vance about the strikes and said during a floor speech that “Congress must not allow the executive branch to become judge, jury and executioner.”

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called this week for a hearing on the strikes after the commander overseeing the South American region abruptly announced his early retirement.

In a statement, Smith said he has “never seen such a staggering lack of transparency on behalf of an Administration and the Department to meaningfully inform Congress on the use of lethal military force.”

By Konstantin Toropin.

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic #missile toward the North’s eastern waters.

SEOUL — North Korea performed its first ballistic missile test in five months Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, days before U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders are to gather in rival South for a regional conference.

A brief statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched in an eastward direction but gave no further details such as how far the weapon flew.

North Korea usually test-launches missiles in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, causing no damage in neighbouring countries. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff statement only said the latest missile landed in the waters.

The launch comes days before South Korea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, an annual summit meant to promote economic integration and trade throughout the region. It has no military component. Trump was expected to come to Gyeongju ahead of the summit for bilateral meetings with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, but South Korean officials say Trump won’t likely attend the APEC’s main conference set for Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

Experts earlier said North Korea could launch provocative missile tests before or during the APEC summit to underscore its commitment to being recognized as a nuclear weapons state. Experts say Kim would need that status to call for the UN to lift punishing economic sanctions on it.

Wednesday’s ballistic missile launch is the first of its kind since North Korea on May 8 tested short-range systems that simulated nuclear counterstrikes against U.S. and South Korean forces. The latest launch was also the first missile test by North Korea since Lee took office in June with a promise to push to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been sharply accelerating the pace of weapons tests since since his high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea. But last month, Kim suggested he could return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand for a denuclearization of North Korea, after Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for a new round of diplomacy.

Earlier this month, Kim displayed a new intercontinental ballistic missile at a massive military parade in Pyongyang, with top Chinese, Russian and other leaders present. The parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party, highlighted Kim’s growing diplomatic footing and his relentless drive to build an arsenal that could strike the U.S. and its allies. Analysts say Kim would believe an expanded nuclear arsenal would increase his leverage in potential talks with the U.S.

North Korea’s state media said the Oct. 10 parade featured the Hwasong-20 ICBM, which it described as the country’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system.” Observers said the ICBM is designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat U.S. missile defences and that North Korea could test-launch it in coming months.

Kim’s diplomatic credentials have been bolstered recently. He took centre stage with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Beijing military parade last month. Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have also repeatedly expressed hopes to meet Kim as he flaunts a provocative nuclear program.

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The Associated Press

Son charged after 80-year-old Oshawa man killed minutes after leaving local mosque: police.

A 42-year-old man from Oshawa has been charged with second-degree murder after allegedly killing his own father outside a local mosque, police say.

The incident happened on Oct. 16.

Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) said they were called to a residential property near Mcgrigor Street and Simcoe Street South for unknown trouble at about 4:20 p.m. that day.

Police say officers found a male with obvious signs of trauma outside of a home near the mosque.

Life-saving measures were performed, but he was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

The victim has been identified as 80-year-old Ibrahim Bala, of Oshawa. He is Durham Region’s seventh homicide victim of the year.

Const. Nick Gluckstein, of DRPS, previously said they believe Bala left the Islamic Centre of Oshawa next door at around 2:30 p.m. and was killed sometime prior to 2:40 p.m.

The mosque said Bala was a “very dear community brother,” adding that they’re heartbroken by his tragic death.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims also released a statement about the homicide on Friday, describing him as a “prominent Muslim community member.”

On Monday, the Islamic Centre of Oshawa released a follow-up statement saying that it has received news of an arrest in this case and reiterating its commitment to helping the family during this difficult time.

“We truly appreciate the outpouring of support and compassion,” the the masjid said.

“Mental health does not discriminate based on religion, ethnicity, age, or gender. We strongly advocate for families to access available mental health resources to help ensure that a tragedy of this nature never happens again.”

U.S. begins sending nuke workers home as shutdown drags, The agency responsible for safeguarding the U.S. nuclear stockpile began placing most staff on enforced leave Monday, an official said, as yet another congressional vote to end the crippling government shutdown failed.

With the standoff about to enter its fourth week, some 1,400 workers at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were due to receive notices telling them they had been placed on unpaid furlough.

“Due to the Democrat shutdown, approximately 1,400 NNSA federal employees will be furloughed as of today, October 20th and nearly 400 NNSA federal employees will continue to work to support the protection of property and the safety of human life,” a U.S. Department of Energy spokesperson said in a statement.

The United States has an arsenal of 5,177 nuclear warheads, with about 1,770 deployed, according to the global security nonprofit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The NNSA, which oversees 60,000 contractors, is responsible for designing, manufacturing, servicing and securing the weapons.

The U.S. Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but CNN reported that the furloughs will initially hit sites that assemble nuclear weapons, such as Pantex in Texas and Y-12 in Tennessee.

At 20 days, the United States is enduring its longest full government shutdown ever -- the third-longest if partial stoppages are included.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Democrats to vote with his Republicans to reopen the government, with increasingly ominous threats to slash public services and ramp up mass layoffs.

“So we’re hoping the Democrats become much less deranged and that we will get the vote pretty soon. And I hear they’re starting to feel that way, too,” Trump said at the White House.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CNBC he expected the shutdown to end “some time this week” -- but he warned Democrats of “stronger measures... to bring them to the table” if it dragged on further.

A cargo aircraft skids off a Hong Kong runway into the sea, killing 2 people, The Emirates flight, arriving from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was landing at Hong Kong International Airport around 3:50 a.m., according to Hong Kong’s airport authority.

Four crew members on the plane were rescued and taken to a hospital. Initial reports from police said two people in an airport ground vehicle were killed.

Emirates said the Boeing 747 freighter flying as EK9788 was wet leased and operated by Turkish cargo carrier Act Airlines. In wet leases, the company supplying the plane also provides the crew, maintenance and insurance. The airline said there was cargo on board.

Local Hong Kong broadcasters showed the aircraft partially submerged just off the edge of the airport’s sea wall. The aircraft’s front half and cockpit were visible above water but the tail end appearing to have broken off.

The crash occurred on the north runway of Hong Kong’s airport, one of Asia’s busiest. That runway remained closed, while the two other runways at the airport continue to operate.

Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department said in a statement it was following up with the airlines and other parties involved in the crash.

Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press

South Korea seeks to arrest dozens of online scam suspects repatriated from Cambodia.

Online scams, many based in Southeast Asian nations, have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic and produced two sets of victims: the tens of thousands of people who have been forced to work as scammers under the threat of violence, and the targets of their fraud. Monitoring groups say online scams earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually.

State prosecutors have asked local courts to issue arrest warrants for 58 of the 64 returnees at the request of police, the Korean National Police Agency said in a statement. Police said the people they are seeking to place under arrest are accused of engaging in online fraud activities like romantic scams, bogus investment pitches or voice phishing, apparently targeting fellow South Koreans at home. The courts are expected to determine whether to approve their arrests in coming days.

The police agency said that five people have been set free, but it refused to disclose the reasons for their releases, saying investigations are still under way.

South Korean police said that four of the 64 returnees told investigators that they were beaten while being held in scam centers in Cambodia against their will.

South Korea faces public calls to take stronger action to protect its nationals from being forced into overseas online scam centers, after one of its nationals was found dead in Cambodia in August. He was reportedly lured by a friend to travel to Cambodia to provide his bank account to be used by a scam organization. Authorities in Cambodia said the 22-year-old university student was tortured.

Estimates from the U.N. and other international agencies say that at least 100,000 people have been trafficked to scam centers in Cambodia, with a similar number in Myanmar and tens of thousands more in other countries.

Officials in Seoul estimate that some 1,000 South Koreans are in scam centers in Cambodia, and last week, South Korean authorities imposed a travel ban on parts of Cambodia and sent a government delegation to Cambodia to discuss joint steps.

Online scam centers were previously concentrated in Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia and Myanmar, with most of the trafficked and other workers coming from Asia. But an Interpol report in June said the past three years have seen victims trafficked to Southeast Asia from distant regions including South America, Western Europe and Eastern Africa and that new centers have been reported in the Middle East, West Africa and Central America.

Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press

Intensive diplomatic efforts underway to prepare #Putin-Trump meeting — diplomat
"The top diplomats of Russia and Hungary held talks to prepare for the event," Maria #Zakharova said.

Russian diplomats are conducting "very thorough and truly serious" work to prepare the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with TASS.

"The contact [between Putin and Trump] took place and was commented on by the presidential administration. Mr. [Kremlin aide Yury] Ushakov provided detailed information about it. Following up on these contacts, the top diplomats of Russia and Hungary held talks to prepare for the event," she said.

"Work is also being carried out through diplomatic channels [at various levels]. This is a brief summary of the very thorough and truly serious work currently being carried out by Russian diplomats and those entrusted with preparing this visit, this meeting," the diplomat emphasized.

On October 16, after a telephone conversation with Putin, Trump announced that they had agreed to meet soon in Budapest. Ushakov also said that Moscow and Washington would "without delay" begin preparations for a new meeting between the two countries' leaders, which could be organized in the Hungarian capital. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the creation of an organizing committee to prepare for the summit, specifying that this work began on Thursday evening.

#Israel strikes #Gaza after it says #Hamas attacked across ceasefire line,

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel on Sunday struck targets in southern Gaza after saying its troops came under fire from Hamas militants, in the first major test of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire meant to halt more than two years of war. Health officials said at least 14 Palestinians were killed.

A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to deescalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but didn’t threaten to return to war.

Israel’s military said that militants fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to agreed-upon ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. The military said Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery.

Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

Shortly before sunset, Israel’s military said it had begun a series of airstrikes in southern Gaza against what it called Hamas targets.
Strikes in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike on a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida town in central Gaza killed at least six Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.

Another strike killed at least two people near the Al-Ahly soccer club in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the ministry said. The strike hit a tent and wounded eight others, said Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

The hospital said it also received the bodies of four people killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat, along with the body of one person killed in a strike at a charging point west of Nuseirat.

Another strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least one person, according to Nasser Hospital.

An Israeli military official told journalists there had been three incidents Sunday, two in southern Gaza and one in the north, and noted that the update was partial for now.
More bodies of hostages identified

Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight.

Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.

Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.

Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that it had found the body of a hostage and would return it on Sunday “if circumstances in the field” allowed. It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.

Israel on Saturday pressed Hamas to fulfill its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages, saying the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed “until further notice.”

Hamas says the war’s devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover. Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. Some are decomposed and blackened. Some are missing limbs and teeth.

Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.

After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of remains is a major issue in the ceasefire’s first phase. A major scale-up of humanitarian aid is the other central issue.
Ceasefire’s second phase

Hamas earlier Sunday said talks with mediators on starting the ceasefire’s second phase have begun. The next stages are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He said Hamas has begun discussions to “solidify its positions.”

The U.S. plan proposes the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run Gaza.

Kassem reiterated that Hamas won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. He called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.

For now, “government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the (power) vacuum is very dangerous,” he said.
Rafah border crossing

The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side.

A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents for entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter Gaza will need to apply at the embassy.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

Melanie Lidman And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.

#Bolivia holds a tight runoff as voters seek a president to lift them from crisis.

Voters are choosing between former right-wing President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga and centrist Sen. Rodrigo Paz as they look for a leader to lift them out of their country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Since 2023, the Andean nation has been crippled by a shortage of U.S. dollars that has locked Bolivians out of their own savings and hampered imports. Year-on-year inflation soared to 23% last month, the highest rate since 1991. Fuel shortages paralyze the country.

Quiroga and Paz have vowed to break with the budget-busting populism that dominated Bolivia under the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party founded by Evo Morales, a charismatic coca growers’ union leader who became Bolivia’s first Indigenous president in 2006.

“We are living in a time of change and renewal,” Paz told supporters as he cast his ballot in his hometown of Tarija, alongside his father, former President Jaime Paz Zamora. “We are closing one cycle and opening another.”

The promise of change has energized some voters.

“Since 2005 we haven’t had any real options, so this is exciting for me,” said high school teacher Carlos Flores, 41, who was waiting to vote for Paz.

Riven by internal divisions and battered by public anger over fuel lines, MAS suffered a historic defeat in the Aug. 17 elections that propelled Quiroga and Paz to the dead-heat runoff. Paz beat Quiroga but without enough votes to avoid a second round.

Both candidates have promised to end Bolivia’s fixed exchange rate, restructure state-owned companies and lure foreign investment. Among the factors that most distinguish them is how far and fast they propose pushing their reforms.
Differing approaches to change

Quiroga wants to get dollars flowing into Bolivia immediately with a big rescue package from the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders.

That would demand savage cuts in state spending, such as slashing fuel subsidies, shrinking the public payroll and cutting the state out of Bolivia’s gas and mining businesses. He has run for president three times before but never made it this far.

“What’s interesting is that even though Quiroga puts very drastic measures on the table, he has considerable support,” said Gustavo Flores-Macias, dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. “It shows that a good share of Bolivians are just so tired of the crisis, the currency difficulties, the fuel shortages, that they’re willing to support someone who says there will be pain before things get better.”

Paz favors a more cautious approach. He says he’ll phase out fuel subsidies gradually and provide MAS-style social protections like cash handouts to cushion the blow.

Shunning the IMF -- an organization viewed with contempt in Bolivia during the nearly two decades of left-wing rule -- Paz promises to scrape together dollars by legalizing Bolivia’s black market and fighting corruption.
Battle of optics

Although Paz has spent more than two decades in politics as a lawmaker and mayor, he emerged as something of a political unknown in the August vote.

His popularity, experts say, was further buoyed by the outsider status of his running mate, ex-police Capt. Edman Lara, who was fired from the force in 2023 for denouncing corruption in viral TikTok videos that drew a huge following. Many are former MAS supporters who appreciated the party’s egalitarian ethos, but soured on its taxes and regulation.

The pair mounted a fast-paced underdog campaign, crisscrossing cities and rural communities to throw beer-soaked, no-frills events with the message of " capitalism for all."

They played up their contrast with the wealthy Quiroga and his large campaign war chest, portraying their rival as part of Bolivia’s elite political establishment. Quiroga briefly served as president from 2001-2002, after his predecessor Hugo Banzer fell ill and stepped down.

“The socioeconomic backgrounds of the leadership and, ultimately, of the voters, are very different. There’s a divide between those with greater economic access and those with less,” said Veronica Rocha, a Bolivian political analyst.

Quiroga appeals more to the industrialists and business leaders in the crucial agriculture sector, and Paz to the merchants, micro-entrepreneurs and self-employed, she said.
Vast task ahead

The next president faces a task that’s about as simple as running a marathon in Bolivia’s highlands -- altitude: 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).

In the heady early days of Morales’ long tenure (2006-2019), a boom in natural gas exports underwrote the state’s unbridled spending. Now, gas exploration and production has collapsed. But Bolivia continues to splurge to keep fuel practically free, paying $2 billion last year on the subsidies.

Previous attempts to lift the subsidies didn’t go well: Morales’ bid to lift fuel subsidies in 2011 lasted less than a week as mass protests engulfed the country.

Public transportation unions have already threatened to ignite unrest if fuel subsidies are eliminated.

Widespread disillusionment over the scope of the crisis has led many Bolivians to believe that all politicians have failed them and left around 10% of voters undecided, according to recent polls.

“Every candidate promises and promises, but when they get to power, they forget about the people,” said Javier Quisbert, 40, who emerged from a polling station Sunday saying that he spoiled his ballot just to avoid a punitive fine. Voting is compulsory for Bolivia’s nearly 8 million eligible voters.

“There’s no life anymore in Bolivia,” Quisbert said.
Result would resonate across the region

Whoever wins, the end of MAS after around 20 years of hegemony will trigger a major economic and geopolitical realignment that could reverberate across the continent. The candidates say they’ll welcome foreign investment and encourage private enterprise in Bolivia, which has the world’s greatest lithium resources.

The election also means a shift away from Bolivia’s current allies, China and Russia, and toward the United States, after decades of anti-American hostility. Both Quiroga and Paz flew to Washington to meet with IMF and Trump administration officials.

“Both candidates running in the runoff election want strong and better relations with the United States, so that’s another transformative opportunity,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a news conference Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally, to the White House.

“Like Bolivia, there are numerous other countries coming our way,” Trump said.

Isabel Debre, The Associated Press