Since president Evo Morales took office in 2006, landlocked Bolivia in the South American Andes has experienced higher rates of economic growth than at any time in the past 30 years, according to the country's finance minister, Luis Arce.
On a recent visit to the US, during which he addressed Washington think tank the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), Mr Arce described how in 2009, when much of the Western world, including the US, was showing negative growth as a result of the worldwide recession, Bolivia managed to record a 3.4% increase in gross domestic product (GDP), the highest rate of growth "from Alaska to Argentina", according to the former Bolivian central bank employee.
