Óscar Ortiz Antelo served as senator from the department of Santa Cruz for nearly 15 years from 2006-2020 from the Social Democratic Power coalition and later the Social Democratic Movement party. As a senator, Ortiz represented the interests of the Santa Cruz elite and was linked closely with the region’s right-wing separatists.
In the 2019 Bolivian elections, Ortiz ran for president with the alliance “Bolivia Dice No.” After winning just 4% in the first round, Ortiz endorsed Carlos Mesa’s campaign to defeat Evo Morales.
After the coup, the party was granted substantial influence since Jeanine Áñez was a member of Ortiz’s Social Democratic Movement party. Many of Áñez’s cabinet members came from Ortiz’s wing of the party. While not selected as a minister at first, Ortiz was considered a “vital cog in the new government” according to *El Deber* and his political power grew exponentially.
He later served as Minister of Productive Development and the Plural Economy as well as Minister of Economy and Public Finance during the Áñez government. Acting as a so-called “superminister for economic reactivation,” Ortiz implemented extreme neoliberal economic policies in Bolivia, working to dramatically curb state spending, privatize public companies, and support large capitalist interests of Santa Cruz, namely agribusiness.
Ortiz is also accused of approving an IMF loan worth hundreds of millions of dollars without the constitutionally required approval of the Senate. He denies this, claiming he simply advocated for its approval.
