Latest news with #Bolivian
UPI
18 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
Opposition candidates lead polls for Bolivia's presidential election
With fewer than 45 days until Bolivia's presidential election, politician and businessman Samuel Doria Medina (C) , leader of Unidad Nacional, a center-left social democratic party, is leading the polls with 19.6% support. File Photo by Gabriel Márquez/EPA-EFE July 1 (UPI) -- With fewer than 45 days until Bolivia's presidential election, businessman Samuel Doria Medina -- leader of Unidad Nacional, a center-left social democratic party -- is leading the polls with 19.6% support. According to the latest survey by Captura Consulting, released by the Cadena A television network, former President Jorge Quiroga, a center-right candidate, is in second place with 16.6%, followed by Andrónico Rodríguez, a rising figure in the Bolivian left, with 13.7%. A June poll by Ipsos CIESMOR showed similar results, reinforcing the trend that opposition candidates Doria Medina and Quiroga have pushed ruling party candidates out of the top spots. Still, 15.5% of voters remain undecided, adding uncertainty to the final outcome. "Although a poll is a snapshot of the moment and will shift over time, the trends are clear," political analyst José Luis Santistevan said. He said voters appear to be turning away from the ruling party amid a worsening economic crisis that has affected jobs, food access and household income across Bolivia. Bolivia is in the midst of a severe economic crisis, driven by rising prices for basic goods, fuel shortages and a lack of foreign currency. The crisis has intensified social tensions nationwide. Infighting on the left has weakened the ruling party's standing. Former President Evo Morales, current President Luis Arce and President of the Senate Andrónico Rodríguez have publicly clashed, eroding support for the political movement that has governed Bolivia since Morales first won the presidency in 2005 with 53.7% of the vote. The latest polling suggests no candidate is likely to win outright in the first round on Aug. 17, political analyst Reymi Ferreira said. He added that Doria Medina and Quiroga are likely to face each other in a runoff Oct. 20. Since the Constitutional Court disqualified former President Evo Morales from running -- citing constitutional term limits -- his supporters have launched blockades and protests across several regions, threatening national stability and the election itself. Despite the unrest, the vote remains scheduled for August 17, with an estimated 7.5 million Bolivians expected to go to the polls.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
A Common Assumption About Aging May Be Wrong, Study Suggests
A new analysis of data gathered from a small Indigenous population in the Bolivian Amazon suggests some of our basic assumptions about the biological process of aging might be wrong. Inflammation is a natural immune response that protects the body from injury or infection. Scientists have long believed that long-term, low-grade inflammation — also known as 'inflammaging' — is a universal hallmark of getting older. But this new data raises the question of whether inflammation is directly linked to aging at all, or if's linked to a person's lifestyle or environment instead. The study, which was published today, found that people in two nonindustrialized areas experienced a different kind of inflammation throughout their lives than more urban people — likely tied to infections from bacteria, viruses and parasites rather than the precursors of chronic disease. Their inflammation also didn't appear to increase with age. Scientists compared inflammation signals in existing data sets from four distinct populations in Italy, Singapore, Bolivia and Malaysia; because they didn't collect the blood samples directly, they couldn't make exact apples-to-apples comparisons. But if validated in larger studies, the findings could suggest that diet, lifestyle and environment influence inflammation more than aging itself, said Alan Cohen, an author of the paper and an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. 'Inflammaging may not be a direct product of aging, but rather a response to industrialized conditions,' he said, adding that this was a warning to experts like him that they might be overestimating its pervasiveness globally. 'How we understand inflammation and aging health is based almost entirely on research in high-income countries like the U.S.,' said Thomas McDade, a biological anthropologist at Northwestern University. But a broader look shows that there's much more global variation in aging than scientists previously thought, he added. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Extra.ie
Irish tourist fatally injured after car overturns in Bolivia
An Irish tourist has died in Bolivia after the vehicle he was travelling in overturned during their travels on Friday afternoon. The man, understood to be in his 30s, was among a group of seven travelling in the Toyota Landcruiser when the accident occurred shortly after 5pm on Friday. The tourists had been making their way to a local volcano when the incident happened, travelling a further 40 metres before coming to a halt. An Irish tourist has died in Bolivia after the vehicle he was travelling in overturned during their travels on Friday afternoon. Pic: Getty Images The Irish tourist was fatally injured after sustaining an abdominal injury. He was rushed to hospital but died en route. Five of the other occupants of the car were injured — these included two Bolivian natives, two German natives and a Dutchman. The Mirror report that three of them were taken to hospital in Potosi. Pic: Radio Uyuni/ Facebook A local police chief is citing speed as a potential reason for the tragedy. Colonel Wilson Flores claimed that one of the tourists had requested to drive the vehicle so they could record a video for social media when the accident unfolded. He said: 'Unfortunately, due to excessive speed, it lost control and the vehicle turned over, causing one death and five injuries. 'The deceased passed away en route to Potosi due to the abdominal injury he suffered.' have contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Bolivia crypto transactions up over 530% amid currency woes
A waiter collects a diner's bill in cryptocurrency, as Bolivians are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies and exchange platforms like Binance as a shortage of dollars and high inflation force savers to look for alternatives, in Cochabamba, Bolivia June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Morales (Reuters) -Bolivia's central bank on Friday reiterated a dramatic uptick in transactions of digital assets, following a Reuters report that showed how more Bolivians were turning to crypto exchanges like Binance and stablecoins like Tether as a hedge against the depreciation of the local boliviano currency. According to new figures published on Friday by the Bolivian central bank, transactions using Electronic Payment Channels and Instruments for Virtual Assets (VA) soared more than 530%, from $46.5 million in the first half of 2024, to $294 million in the same period of 2025. New figures showed monthly transactions at a record $68 million in May. "These tools have facilitated access to foreign currency transactions, including remittances, small purchases and payments, benefiting micro and small business owners across various sectors, as well as families nationwide," the bank said in a statement. Cryptocurrencies were outlawed in Bolivia until June last year. Since the ban was lifted, transaction volumes reached $430 million across more than 10,000 individual operations, the bank said. The Bolivian government was working on a "comprehensive regulatory framework for financial technology companies," that aligns with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT), the bank added. Bolivians are facing an acute economic crisis, with reserves of dollars near zero, inflation at 40-year highs and fuel shortages causing long lines at the pump. The South American country's currency has lost half its value on the black market this year, even as the official exchange rate has been held artificially steady by governmentintervention. That has meant more Bolivians are looking for alternatives to protect their savings and make transactions. Crypto proponents have pushed blockchain-based tokens as an answer, though economists warn that these digital offerings come with risks. "This (crypto uptick) isn't a sign of stability," said former central bank head Jose Gabriel Espinoza. "It's more a reflection of the deteriorating purchasing power of households." (Reporting by Lucinda Elliott in Montevideo and Daniel Ramos in La Paz. Editing by Diane Craft)
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Bolivia crypto transactions up over 530% amid currency woes
(Reuters) -Bolivia's central bank on Friday reiterated a dramatic uptick in transactions of digital assets, following a Reuters report that showed how more Bolivians were turning to crypto exchanges like Binance and stablecoins like Tether as a hedge against the depreciation of the local boliviano currency. According to new figures published on Friday by the Bolivian central bank, transactions using Electronic Payment Channels and Instruments for Virtual Assets (VA) soared more than 530%, from $46.5 million in the first half of 2024, to $294 million in the same period of 2025. New figures showed monthly transactions at a record $68 million in May. "These tools have facilitated access to foreign currency transactions, including remittances, small purchases and payments, benefiting micro and small business owners across various sectors, as well as families nationwide," the bank said in a statement. Cryptocurrencies were outlawed in Bolivia until June last year. Since the ban was lifted, transaction volumes reached $430 million across more than 10,000 individual operations, the bank said. The Bolivian government was working on a "comprehensive regulatory framework for financial technology companies," that aligns with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT), the bank added. Bolivians are facing an acute economic crisis, with reserves of dollars near zero, inflation at 40-year highs and fuel shortages causing long lines at the pump. The South American country's currency has lost half its value on the black market this year, even as the official exchange rate has been held artificially steady by government intervention. That has meant more Bolivians are looking for alternatives to protect their savings and make transactions. Crypto proponents have pushed blockchain-based tokens as an answer, though economists warn that these digital offerings come with risks. "This (crypto uptick) isn't a sign of stability," said former central bank head Jose Gabriel Espinoza. "It's more a reflection of the deteriorating purchasing power of households."
