Bolivian president replaces ministers amid challenges

LA PAZ, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Bolivian President Luis Arce on Monday unveiled changes to his ministers overseeing hydrocarbons, labor and rural development, saying that officials who do not show a commitment to public service should be identified and dismissed.
“We are a large state, where unfortunately not everyone has the same commitment, the same conviction to work with clean hands …. that is who we must identify, that is the one that cannot be in our ministries,” the president said during a ceremony at the government headquarters.
At the event, Arce tapped Alejandro Gallardo as minister of hydrocarbons, Erland Julio Rodriguez La Fuente as head of Labor, and Juan Yamil Flores as head of rural development.
He urged the newly appointed ministers to work with integrity and reject corruption “like the rest of the cabinet still in office.”
The cabinet shuffle comes amid national fuel shortages and challenges related to exchange rate volatility. ■