Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator who was never a nationally prominent figure until now, won Bolivia's presidential election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, galvanizing voters outraged by the country's economic crisis.
Paz won 54 per cent of the votes, early results showed, versus 45 per cent for Jorge (Tito) Quiroga, who was president for a short time in the early 2000s.
Paz took the podium Sunday night flanked by his wife, María Helena Urquidi, and four adult children.
"Today, Bolivia can be certain that this will be a government that will bring solutions," he told supporters. "Bolivia breathes winds of change and renewal to move forward."
For the first time since Bolivia's Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, rocketed to power in 2005 under the maverick former union leader Evo Morales, Sunday's presidential runoff pit two conservative, business-friendly candidates against each other.
President Luis Arce, who often clashed with Morales, opted not to seek another term for MAS, which received so few votes in the Aug. 17 elections that it almost lost its legal status.
Unheralded at beginning of race
Paz and his popular running mate, E
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