La Paz, August, 11, 2026 – The ancient Greek language distinguishes the concept of “time” through two clearly differentiated terms. The first is Chronos, chronological and linear time—that of the clock and the calendar—which measures the unfolding of events in the macroscopic world and from which words like chronicle, chronometer, and chronology are derived. The second is Kairos, qualitative time or the “propitious moment,” that time of the soul where the opportunity arises to make transcendental decisions. The latter appears in the biblical tradition referring to the “hour of Jesus,” an instant that transcends the measure of the clock, and is explicitly differentiated in passages such as Acts 1,7. A similar distinction is found in Hebrew, where the equivalent concepts are Zeman and ‘et.
It is possible that behind the current energy crisis in Bolivia—which today affects mainly hydrocarbons, but which tomorrow will compromise our entire energy security—lies a profound misunderstanding of these two concepts.
Twelve years ago, it was evident that Bolivia’s gas reserves were in decline and that it was imperative to take corrective measures, especially by incentivizing exploration with venture capital. However, no action was taken, or it was done incorrectly and insufficiently. Chronos followed its inexorable course, and year after year, we arrived at today’s catastrophic situation, where income from gas exports is lower than the remittances of Bolivians living abroad and is insufficient to cover fuel imports. Not only was linear time (Chronos) allowed to pass without proper management, but the opportune moment (Kairos) to implement structural reforms—legal certainty, the normalization of energy tariffs, and an Energy Transition Plan toward renewable sources—was squandered.
Today, under the current administration, it seems we face the same dilemma: allowing Chronos to consume our future while wasting the opportunity (Kairos) that the change of government offered.
Let us analyze two emblematic cases. More than a month ago, a new Electricity Law was announced to replace the obsolete—though pioneering—Law 1604 of 1994. The new law promised to incentivize non-state investment in all its components and provide autonomy to the oversight agency. However, time has been diluted in bureaucratic processes of drafting, review, and socialization, losing the political opportunity for swift approval and prompt implementation, along with its constellation of regulations.
Likewise, the postponed modification of the Hydrocarbons Law represents a similar failure. The original technical proposal by the denigrated former minister Medinaceli sought primarily to reform the tax system and eliminate the barriers of Law 3058, without needing to revise the constitutional straightjackets. The goal of attracting investment in exploration has remained stalled in administrative paralysis. Time (Chronos) continues to pass without anything happening, but, more seriously, the window of opportunity (Kairos) for the public to accept and support these necessary modifications seems to have closed, perhaps permanently, also due to the breakdown of essential political alliances in the Legislative Assembly.
The conclusion is bleak: if we persist in inaction, the future (Chronos) will only bring us a deeper crisis, with no possibility of recovering those opportunities (Kairos) that we have already let slip away.
Best regards,
Francesco