Luis Arce

About Luis Arce

Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian former politician, banker, and economist who served as the 67th president of Bolivia from 2020 to 2025. A member of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), he previously served as minister of finance—later minister of economy and public finance—from 2006 to 2017, and in 2019. Born in La Paz, Arce graduated as an economist at the University of Warwick. His lifelong career in banking and accounting at the Central Bank of Bolivia prompted President Evo Morales to appoint him as minister of finance in 2006. For over ten years as Morales' longest-serving minister, Arce was hailed as the architect behind Bolivia's economic transformation, overseeing the nationalization of the country's hydrocarbons industry, the rapid expansion of GDP, and the reduction of poverty. His tenure was only brought to an end by a diagnosis of kidney cancer, which forced him to leave office to seek treatment abroad.