Bolivia relaunches Elder Bell refinery, signals shift from fuel subsidies to refining investment

Bolivia's government relaunched the Guillermo Elder Bell refinery in Santa Cruz, which will process imported crude oil. President Rodrigo Paz indicated a preference for investing in refining over subsidies, warning of 'difficult' decisions due to international prices and questioning fuel subsidy costs. This marks a potential policy shift toward reducing subsidy burden and increasing domestic refining capacity, though specifics on pricing and subsidy phase-out remain unclear.