Bolivia’s President Faces Demands to Disclose the Cost of His US Trip

BOLIVIA · POLITICS

Lawmakers from across Congress want Bolivia’s president, Rodrigo Paz, to disclose what his trip to the United States cost. They also want proof of what it achieved, the La Paz news site Brújula Digital reported on Monday 28 September.

Paz left on 19 September, hours after announcing the end of a diesel subsidy that had held fuel prices down. He addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday 24 September and flew home on Sunday 27 September.

Bolivia’s Legislative Palace on Plaza Murillo in La Paz. Lawmakers want the government to account for the cost of President Rodrigo Paz’s US trip (Photo: Mario Falcetti, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Who is asking, and with what tools

Elena Pachacute, a senator for Libre, the alliance of former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, said her bloc would scrutinise the trip. It plans requests for a written and an oral report, and possibly an interpellation, Brújula Digital reported.

Under Bolivia’s constitution, an interpellation summons ministers, not the president, to answer questions before the Legislative Assembly. A vote by two-thirds of its members can then censure a minister, which means dismissal.

The assembly censured Economy Minister José Gabriel Espinoza on 18 August by 91 votes to 34, the Cochabamba daily Opinión reported. Paz replaced him on 25 August, the state news agency ABI reported, although the Senate president had disputed the vote.

Correo del Sur, a Sucre daily, reported that an interpellation could target the ministers who travelled with Paz. Lissa Claros, deputy head of Libre’s bloc in the lower house, had announced a written request by 23 September.

Critics on the right, the left and in Paz’s own party

Marcela Guerrero, a senator for Unidad, the bloc of businessman Samuel Doria Medina, also asked for the costs and results. “We are not denying him the chance to represent the country, but there must really be results,” she said.

Even Paz’s own Christian Democratic Party (PDC) joined in. Senator Ana María Crispín said the government should put people’s needs first while every sector is feeling the new measures.

Two ruling-party deputies, Claudio Bilbao and Rómulo Villca, asked for a detailed report within days. “I understand he is bringing money, but we want the exact report,” Bilbao said, according to Correo del Sur.

On the left, Rolando Pacheco of Alianza Popular, a small bloc led by Andrónico Rodríguez, went furthest. “If he is going to devote himself to travelling, let him resign,” he said, the news site Visión 360 reported.

Not every lawmaker objected. Unidad deputy Alejandro Reyes said the loans, investment and international coordination added up to “a positive balance”.

What the vice-president wants to know

Vice-President Edmand Lara was elected on Paz’s ticket in 2025 but has since declared himself in opposition, the radio network Erbol reported. As vice-president he also presides over the Legislative Assembly, and on Monday he promised Paz a formal letter.

“It is something Rodrigo has to explain: how much he has spent, how many people went with him,” Lara said. He wants figures for fuel, hotels and crew, the news agency ANF reported.

Lara said Bolivia’s president flew on the FAB-002, an air force jet he said is assigned to the vice-presidency. He said he himself flies commercially on BoA, the state airline, to avoid such costs, the broadcaster Unitel reported.

On 22 September Lara put the cost of plane, entourage, lodging and food at US$200,000 to US$250,000. That is his own estimate, reported by the news site Oxígeno, and it could not be independently confirmed.

Libre also plans to scrutinise Lara’s own trip to Asunción, Paraguay, the same week. The vice-presidency said its hosts paid for flights, lodging and food, according to Visión 360.

Three days in Florida and a newspaper supplement

After the UN speech the FAB-002 flew to Boca Raton, a wealthy Florida coastal city, and stayed three days, ANF reported. Former deputy Tomás Monasterio publicised the stop and asked who paid for fuel, crew, security and lodging.

Paz said airports are chosen on “technical” grounds and that further meetings took place in Florida on Friday and part of Saturday. He did not say whom he met there, ANF reported.

A second question concerns a multi-page supplement praising Bolivia’s reforms in the US newspaper USA Today. The state communications unit, UCE, said it neither contracted nor paid for it, ABI reported.

Figures of US$3 million to US$3.5 million circulated publicly, but Paz said he understood no such payment was made. Neither figure could be independently confirmed, and Paz said the matter is under investigation.

If the assembly asks for a report, Paz said, he agrees that any contract or payment should be made public. Those responsible would then have to explain themselves, Opinión reported.

The government’s case

Fernando Aramayo, the minister of the presidency, said flight plans are available and “all the information is transparent”. He said Paz “was austere even in his lodging” and blamed the criticism on “malice”, the news site eju.tv reported.

On Monday Bolivia’s president said he held 32 meetings in four days, including with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He also met the presidents of Paraguay and Uruguay, Santiago Peña and Yamandú Orsi, ABI reported.

Paz said lenders had confirmed about US$10 billion for the next two to three years. He named the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Latin American development bank CAF and the IMF.

His examples were nearly US$600 million from the World Bank and an extra US$750 million from the IDB. He offered them as examples rather than a full breakdown, Brújula Digital reported.

On 23 September Paz said critics had their heads “closed in”, stuck in the Bolivia of the 1980s or 1990s, Oxígeno reported. “All the other governments arrive with 10 or 15 ministers,” he said, the Santa Cruz daily El Deber reported.

Why the timing matters

Decree 5716 raised diesel from Bs 9.80 (US$0.82) to Bs 17.95 (US$1.49) a litre, Correo del Sur reported. Officials call the timing their own, though the US$1.9 billion IMF deal set a 2027 deadline, El País of Tarija reported.

Dollar figures here use the central bank’s official rate of 12.02 bolivianos to the dollar on Tuesday 29 September. The government has let the currency move more freely this year, so dollar values shift from day to day.

Paz has put weekly spending on fuel subsidies at US$55 million, Infobae and ANF reported. Even Lara’s highest estimate for the trip equals less than half of one percent of that weekly bill.

A 24-hour drivers’ stoppage against the decree emptied Santa Cruz’s streets on Monday, with talks with ministers set for Tuesday. That dispute is covered in Bolivia Transport Strike Stops Santa Cruz as Drivers Head to Diesel Talks.

Most of the promised US$10 billion would be loans, adding to existing debt. Foreign public debt was US$14.36 billion at end-June, according to central bank data cited by El País of Tarija.

Earlier trips and the Morales comparison

Paz answered the Florida questions by pointing to former president Evo Morales, who he said flew to the 2010 World Cup. “I use the plane to generate resources for Bolivia,” Paz said, ABI reported.

Morales had earlier criticised the trip’s spending, eju.tv reported. The Libre deputy Édgar Zegarra replied that Morales was the last person to lecture anyone on austerity.

Official travel was already a sore point this year. In July the government dismissed Eduardo Valdivia, head of the state airline BoA, over a disputed trip to Miami, Infobae reported.

Decree 5515 lets Paz govern by digital means while abroad, which narrowed Lara’s role as stand-in, Erbol reported. Paz said he kept signing decrees from New York through virtual cabinet meetings.

What comes next

Libre and Unidad lawmakers say they will file formal requests, and Lara says he will make Paz’s answer public. Paz has said he agrees that any payment linked to the USA Today supplement should be disclosed.

Several things are still not known: the trip’s total cost, how many people flew, and who paid for the days in Florida. Nor is it known who, if anyone, paid for the newspaper supplement.

An interpellation could cost a minister his post, but it cannot remove Bolivia’s president. Asking for a report is not an accusation, and the government says every expense is documented.

The row sits beside a separate dispute, covered in US Visa Restrictions Hit 27 People in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. For people living in Bolivia, the diesel decree and the strikes weigh more on daily life than the trip bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Bolivia’s president?

Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), sworn in on 8 November 2025. His government ended the diesel subsidy on 18 September 2026. Background: Bolivia Explained: The Paz Government, the Fuel Crisis and What to Watch.

Can Bolivia’s Congress remove the president over the trip?

Not through the steps now being discussed. The Legislative Assembly can interpellate ministers and censure them by two-thirds of its members, which removes a minister but not the president.

How much did the trip cost?

No official figure has been published. Vice-President Edmand Lara estimated US$200,000 to US$250,000, a figure that could not be independently confirmed.

What does Paz say the trip achieved?

He says he held 32 meetings in four days and secured about US$10 billion in commitments from the World Bank, the IDB, CAF and the IMF over two to three years.

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