Less Than Fully Satisfactory Development Outcomes International Financial Institutions and Social Unrest in Bolivia

At five key moments, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund pressured weak administrations in Bolivia to adopt policies that had a negative impact on the country's political stability. The principle of market democracy had become so sacrosanct within the international financial institutions that they ignored the difficulties their policies created. Changes in policy since 2006, when Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, came to power, reflect more of an accommodation in the face of a shifting context than any significant recognition of neoliberalism's limitations.