Israel Huaytari Martínez was born in Potosí 39 years ago. Since the first days of November 2023, he has served as president of the Chamber of Deputies. He is from the ‘arcist’ wing of the MAS. “We are going to work within the framework of respect, consensus and unity,” he said when he was sworn into office after being elected by a ‘simple majority’ in the second round. At the same time, he moved into third place in the line of presidential succession. Nothing more and nothing less.
Huaytari’s parliamentary management is marked by scandals. In 2022, he was involved in a controversy after being accused of giving a ‘chuto’ vehicle to leaders of a small community in Potosí. He denied the charge and called it ‘defamation’. His distribution of cell phones to deputies also raised dust, later clarifying that it was on ‘loan’ and had to be returned after use. Last July, the head of purchases for the Chamber was caught red-handed collecting a bribe. The victim’s lawyer revealed that the official attributed the irregular collection to an alleged instruction from Huaytari. In recent days, a brother of his publicly asked him to return a loan that he had requested for the electoral campaign to his elderly mother, along with the request to find a garage to store four trucks of unknown ownership.
It seems that the figure and legacy of the President of the House of Representatives will be overshadowed to the historical record of the main power of the Bolivian State. For a simple but strong reason: The position was too big for him. Because of his inexperience, ineptitude and opacity.
