Andean Group - May 2026

Marcelo Blanco was sworn in as Bolivia’s new hydrocarbons and energy minister on 22 April, having formerly served as deputy to Mauricio Medinaceli, who had held the role since President Rodrigo Paz took office in November 2025. On the same day, Claudia Cronenbold announced her resignation as head of the state-run hydrocarbons company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB). Cronenbold’s departure came less than a month after her appointment on 30 March. She had replaced Yussef Akly, who was forced out after a fuel contamination scandal sparked ongoing protests by transport workers.

In her resignation letter, Cronenbold stated that she had found YPFB to be in “a significantly more deteriorated institutional state” than she had expected and blamed this on almost two decades of alleged mismanagement under the left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) governments of Evo Morales (2006-2019) and Luis Arce (2020-2025). She highlighted the need for “long-term legal and administrative re-engineering” to address company’s issues, and she called on her successor to “explore new avenues of management” – adding to speculation that YPFB may be heading for privatisation.

Announcing Medinaceli’s replacement by Blanco, President Paz stated that the new minister’s focus would be on combatting corruption and generating the necessary conditions to attract investment. Sebastián Daroca, who has taken over as interim head of YPFB, will focus on guaranteeing the supply of diesel and petrol, improving the quality of fuels, strengthening controls, and “organising the company for concrete results in the short-term”, according to a statement from Paz’s office.

The disarray at YPFB, which faced severe fuel shortages under Arce and has more recently been at the centre of a fuel contamination scandal under Paz [EB-26-03], may whet appetites in government for sweeping privatisations. On 23 April, Pablo Camacho, director of the government’s office for the strengthening of state companies (Ofep), said that the situation at YPFB is far from unique. Camacho revealed that most of the country’s 67 state companies are operating at a permanent loss and 15 are in technical bankruptcy, generating a total loss of B$2.7bn (US$385.9m). Camacho blamed this on previous government’s “experiment in putting ideology above the economy”.

Camacho’s assessment came after the economy and finance minister, José Gabriel Espinoza, announced on 21 April that the government was considering privatising or closing state companies that are not generating value. However, Blanco insisted on 28 April that the government has no intention of privatising YPFB, but rather is focused on making it competitive.

Any effort by the government to privatise YPFB or other state firms is likely to face stiff opposition despite Paz’s Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC) and other conservative parties holding a strong majority in congress. The umbrella workers’ union Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) has warned the government against privatising YPFB or other state firms in sectors like mining, utilities, and telecommunications, fearing a repeat of the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. Transport workers have already been intermittently blocking highways since January to protest against engine damage caused by contaminated fuel, and would likely join forces with the COB and wider left-wing groups to push back against any attempt at privatisation.