IDB Opens Door to Bolivia: Paz and Goldfajn Seal Three-Phase Rescue Plan
In a conference room at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) headquarters, beneath the cold glow of a monitor reading 8:59 a.m., Bolivia’s president-elect Rodrigo Paz Pereira shook hands with IDB President Ilan Goldfajn. It was not a ceremonial gesture: it was the first handshake to formalize the multilateral lender’s financial and technical support for the Andean nation amid its worst economic crisis in two decades.
The Setting: An Oval Table and Two Flags
The meeting took place on the executive floor of the IDB’s glass-and-steel building in the U.S. capital. Around a dark-wood oval table sat ten people: Paz, sporting a Bolivian flag pin on his lapel; Goldfajn, flanked by dark-suited executives; and a mixed technical team. On the table: steaming coffee cups, IDB-branded folders, and the flags of Bolivia and Brazil—Goldfajn’s home country—as silent witnesses.
The IDB president opened with a personal congratulations: “I came to receive you and congratulate you in person,” Goldfajn later posted on his networks. Paz replied with a restrained smile: “Thank you for the warm welcome and the constructive dialogue.”
The Three-Phase Plan
The heart of the conversation was a support framework the IDB will coordinate with other multilateral lenders. Three stages, three priorities:
- Immediate Transition
Secure diesel and gasoline supplies, plus foreign-currency inflows to prevent logistical and financial collapse in the coming weeks. - Stabilization with Safety Net
Implement measures to shield the most vulnerable from bearing the recovery’s cost. - Structural Reforms
Design long-term policies to break Bolivia’s recurring crisis cycle.
Paz responded: “We will continue building opportunities for all together.”
Images That Speak
Two official photos, released by Goldfajn himself, capture the tone:
- The group shot: ten serious yet hopeful faces, open documents, half-finished coffee.
Participants during the working session at IDB headquarters. - The handshake: Paz and Goldfajn smiling in front of the IDB logo—relief more than euphoria.
Official handshake sealing the agreement between Bolivia and the IDB.
The Broader Diplomatic Push
The meeting is part of Paz’s Washington offensive. Hours earlier he met with Senator Marco Rubio and other Republican leaders. The message is unequivocal: Bolivia needs urgent financial oxygen, and the IDB will be the first supplier.
Voices from La Paz
In Bolivia, the news landed like a balm. “It’s the first concrete sign the world isn’t turning its back on us,” said a La Paz economic analyst who asked to remain anonymous. At gas stations, where lines stretch over 500 meters, the most repeated phrase is: “Let’s hope the dollars arrive before patience runs out.”
Epilogue in One Line
As Paz left the IDB building, autumn sun already warmed Washington’s streets. In his pocket: a commitment sealed with a handshake and a timeline that, for the first time in months, doesn’t begin with the word “crisis.” It begins with “transition.”
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