Bolivia’s Richest Man Pitches Harvard Plan to Avoid Collapse
Key Facts
—The plan: Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure, founder of Claure Group and vice chairman of Shein, has detailed in a Bloomberg Línea exclusive his Bolivia 360 plan to prevent what he calls the imminent “economic collapse” of Bolivia, a 15-month structural-reform program developed with the Harvard Growth Lab under Ricardo Hausmann.
—The diagnosis: Claure has publicly stated Bolivia has lost most of its hydrocarbons revenues since 2014, that the fiscal deficit reached 11% of GDP in 2023 and could hit 13% in 2024 (among the worst worldwide), that the central bank has exhausted its international reserves, and that the country is now “at the edge of becoming the next Venezuela” with semi-hyperinflationary dynamics.
—The architecture: Bolivia 360 unfolds in three phases under Harvard’s leadership: a comprehensive economic diagnostic, socialization with key political and business actors, and implementation support for the next elected government regardless of political alignment; the framework includes a $10 million SME investment fund and a Renova-style political-leadership institute.
—The investor weight: Claure has personally invested more than $10 billion across Latin American operations in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina but has historically excluded Bolivia due to the absence of an adequate investment climate; he is offering to channel international institutional capital to Bolivia only if the next government implements pro-market reforms.
—The political backdrop: Claure has not been physically present in Bolivia for more than a year due to credible WhatsApp death threats; Bolivian interanual inflation reached 15.01% in April 2025 and continues rising, and the active Paz Pereira crisis with 67 road blockades creates the most fluid Bolivian political environment in two decades.
The Bolivia 360 plan arrives at the most consequential moment in Bolivian economic history since the 1985 hyperinflation stabilization. A billionaire who has not set foot in the country for a year is offering an externally-designed Harvard reform program to a fractured political class incapable of executing its own diagnosis.
What does Bolivia 360 actually propose?
The Bolivia 360 plan is structured as a 15-month research and implementation framework developed with the Growth Lab at Harvard Kennedy School, directed by Ricardo Hausmann, Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy and former Venezuelan planning minister. The Lab has previously delivered country diagnostics for Albania, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Honduras. The plan unfolds in three phases: a comprehensive economic diagnostic identifying Bolivia’s binding constraints on growth, socialization with key political and business actors across the spectrum, and implementation support for whoever wins the next presidential election.
What is Claure’s economic diagnosis?
Claure identifies the 2014 collapse of natural gas production and pricing as the foundational rupture: Bolivia stopped earning the export revenues that historically financed both fiscal spending and import requirements. Government spending continued growing, the fiscal deficit reached 11% of GDP in 2023 and could hit 13% in 2024, and the central bank progressively depleted its international reserves. Once reserves were exhausted, the government began monetary issuance against pension fund collateral. Inflation reached 15.01% interanual in April 2025 and has continued climbing. Claure has called this trajectory “semi-hyperinflationary” and warned the country is “at the edge of becoming the next Venezuela,” per Bloomberg Línea.
What specific reforms does the plan propose?
| Reform area | Bolivia 360 proposal | Political feasibility |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal deficit | Reduce from 10%+ to 3-4% of GDP | High difficulty |
| Central bank independence | Restore operational autonomy | Medium difficulty |
| Fuel subsidies | Phased liberalization to import parity | Very high difficulty |
| Exchange-rate regime | Transition toward credible framework | Medium difficulty |
| Export diversification | Remove quotas; incentivize agriculture | Low-medium difficulty |
| Lithium development | Open to FDI partnerships | High difficulty |
| SME investment vehicle | $10M Claure-funded fund | Low difficulty |
Source: Bolivia 360 socialization events and Harvard Growth Lab Bolivia framework.
Hausmann has publicly highlighted Bolivia’s lithium opportunity (the country holds the world’s largest identified reserves), agricultural export potential in Santa Cruz and Beni departments, and the “undertapped value” of quinoa, alpaca and llama production. The package is complemented by a $10 million Claure-funded SME investment vehicle for Bolivian small and medium enterprises.
What are the political stakes?
Claure has committed to support whichever candidate emerges as the strongest pro-business option, offering campaign-financing support within Bolivian electoral law limits. He has said: “I have no political ambitions, but I do have enormous indignation. Not with the people who believed, but with those who betrayed them.” He has not ruled out a formal role in a future government. Bolivian heterodox economists have argued the Growth Lab framework reproduces standard orthodox macro stabilization without addressing the deeper structural problem of dignified-employment generation. A second critique concerns the democratic legitimacy of an externally-designed reform package handed to a newly-elected government as an implementation playbook.
What should investors watch next?
- Growth Lab full report publication: The complete Harvard diagnostic is expected in coming months. The granularity will determine credibility as an implementation framework.
- Election outcome and candidate alignment: Whether the eventual winner publicly aligns with the Bolivia 360 framework determines whether the plan becomes policy or remains aspiration.
- Fuel subsidy reform announcement: Any government move on fuel-price liberalization will be the single most consequential reform signal — politically explosive but technically necessary.
- IMF program return: Bolivia has not had a formal IMF program in years. A stand-by arrangement would provide the external anchor Hausmann’s framework implicitly requires.
- Claure’s physical return to Bolivia: Any return would signal easing of the political-security environment and is operationally important for implementation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Marcelo Claure?
Marcelo Claure was born in 1970 to Bolivian parents and raised partly in La Paz. He built Brightstar Corporation into a global mobile-device distributor, served as CEO of Sprint during its SoftBank turnaround, and held positions including CEO of SoftBank Group International and vice chairman of Shein. He is currently founder and CEO of Claure Group with positions across telecommunications, technology, agriculture and football. His net worth places him as the wealthiest Bolivian by significant margin.
What is the Harvard Growth Lab?
The Growth Lab at Harvard Kennedy School is a research initiative founded in 2006 dedicated to understanding economic growth dynamics. Its director Ricardo Hausmann developed the Atlas of Economic Complexity methodology and has delivered country diagnostics for Albania, Sri Lanka, Honduras and Ethiopia. The Lab operates as a self-funded research initiative within Harvard, accepting external commissions including the Bolivia 360 engagement underwritten by Claure.
What is the Renova reference?
RenovaBR is a Brazilian political-leadership training institute founded in 2017 that has trained thousands of Brazilian political candidates across the ideological spectrum. It is credited with raising the quality of Brazilian local-government leadership. Claure has identified Renova as the structural model for the Bolivian political-leadership institute Bolivia 360 will fund.
Will Claure become a political candidate?
Claure has explicitly stated he has no political ambitions and is not a candidate. He has nonetheless said he would “make himself available for any role the elected candidate wants him to play,” interpreted as openness to a cabinet position, sovereign-wealth-fund leadership, or special-economic-envoy role. Common speculation places him as a potential minister of economy or productive development.
Connected Coverage
Related Rio Times Bolivia coverage: Bolivia: Paz Pereira rejects resignation as 67 road blockades paralyze country · Bolivia central bank governor Edwin Rojas held in preventive detention · Venezuela after Maduro: a China-style reform without politics.
Published: 2026-05-14T10:30:00-03:00 · Updated: 2026-05-14T10:30:00-03:00 · Dateline: LA PAZ
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