The Social Democratic Movement ( es, Movimiento Demócrata Social; MDS), often shortened to just the Democrats ( es, Demócratas), is a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Bolivia founded in 2013 for the movement for greater autonomy for the eastern departments of the ''

Media Luna The Media Luna () or Media Luna Ampliada () refers to a group of four departments – Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija – in Bolivia which are home to a greater proportion of opponents to the national government led by Evo Morales ...

''.

History

Ruben Costas Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

, governor of Santa Cruz department, announced the party's formation in March 2013. Twenty leaders gathered to launch the party in April 2013, including Costas,

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

governor Carmelo Lens and his predecessor Ernesto Suarez, Senator Bernard Gutierrez ( PPB-Cochabamba), and Cochabamba council member Ninoska Lazarte. The launch was hosted by Savina Cuéllar, the former prefect of

Chuquisaca Department Chuquisaca () ( ay, Chuqisaka; qu, Chuqichaka) is a department of Bolivia located in the center south. It borders on the departments of Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. The departmental capital is Sucre, which is also the consti ...

, who as of April 2013, was under house arrest facing charges for the 24 May 2008, violence in Sucre. After a failed petition to legally merge the registration of Costas' Truth and Social Democracy (VERDES) party, Renewing Freedom and Democracy (Libertad y Democracia Renovadora; Líder), and

Popular Consensus Popular Consensus ( es, Consenso Popular, CP) was a Bolivian political party founded in 2009. CP founder Óscar Ortiz Antelo was President of the Senate of Bolivia from 2008 to 2010. In the 2009 national election, the party formed an electoral a ...

in June, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal authorized Popular Consensus to rename itself the Social Democratic Movement in August 2013. MDS participated in the 2014 election in alliance with the

National Unity Front The National Unity Front ( Spanish: ''Frente de Unidad Nacional'') is a political party in Bolivia. It was founded in late 2003 by Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza, who had broken with the Revolutionary Left Movement earlier that year. It has 3 ...

(UN), supporting the presidential candidacy of

Samuel Doria Medina Samuel Doria Medina Auza (born 4 December 1958) is a politician in Bolivia and former business person. From 1987 until 2014 he was the President and main shareholder in SOBOCE. SOBOCE is the largest cement manufacturer in Bolivia. He is the lea ...

, electing 4 Deputies and one senator. For the 2019 election, MDS and UN again joined to form the Bolivia Says No alliance, nominating Senator Óscar Ortiz as its presidential candidate. Within two weeks, the two parties split over internal disagreements, with MDS moving forward as the alliance's sole leader. Party member and opposition Senator

Jeanine Áñez Jeanine Áñez Chávez (; born 13 June 1967) is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and television presenter who served as the 66th president of Bolivia from 2019 to 2020. A former member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served two ...

became interim president of Bolivia in November 2019, following protests caused by alleged electoral fraud which led to the resignation of the government of Evo Morales. This move was contested by senators for the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Morales' party, who were majority in the assembly and were not in attendance, and thus stated that the vote for interim president took place without a quorum. However, the decision was upheld by the

Plurinational Constitutional Court The Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal ( es, Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional) is a national court in Bolivia charged with adjudicating the constitutionality of laws, government power, and treaties in accordance with the country's 2009 Con ...

, which stated that it followed the succession mechanism stated in the

Constitution of Bolivia The current Constitution of Bolivia ( es, Constitución Política del Estado; literally, the ''Political Constitution of the State'') came into effect on 7 February 2009 when it was promulgated by President Evo Morales, after being approved in ...

. Nevertheless, MAS maintains that Áñez's assumption to the presidency amounted to a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and in 2021 she was arrested under various charges relating to her assumption to the presidency.

References

{{Authority control 2013 establishments in Bolivia Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Bolivia Federalist parties Liberal parties in Bolivia Political parties established in 2013 Political parties in Bolivia Regionalist parties