Bolivia’s beleaguered president announces natural gas discovery, promising a boon for the country

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s embattled president has announced the discovery of vast natural gas reserves just north of the capital, describing it as the biggest find in nearly two decades that could help the cash-strapped country reverse its falling production. President Luis Arce calls the find a “mega field,” saying it has some 1.7 trillion cubic meters of gas at a likely market value of $6.8 billion. He says the trove — named Mayaya X-1 — is a way to revive Bolivia’s gas industry. That was the engine of robust growth in the early 2000s, a period of booming exports and declining poverty that experts have called Bolivia’s “economic miracle.”