Hernán Iván Arias Durán (né Padilla; born 8 August 1958), often referred to as El Negro, is a Bolivian politician, political analyst, and sociologist serving as mayor of La Paz since 2021.

Born in La Paz and raised in rural poverty, Arias attended the Juan XXIII Boarding School in Cochabamba, where he was educated in Marxist thought by trade unionist Filemón Escóbar.

Returning to Bolivia, Arias worked for the Peasant Research and Promotion Center and was a member of the Technical Support Team for Educational Reform, later serving as the private secretary of Vice President Víctor Hugo Cárdenas.

During the administration of Jorge Quiroga, he served as vice minister of popular participation, resigning the post to seek a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, though he failed to attain it.

Despite attempting to present himself as an apolitical figure interested in "reconciliation" between opposing groups, Arias nonetheless faced numerous legal processes instigated by the ruling Movement for Socialism, actions he denounced as acts of political persecution.

[2] Arias' baptismal name is an homage to Hernán Siles Zuazo, the sitting president at the time of his birth, while the name Iván comes from Iver, an elder sibling who died in childhood.

His biological father, Isidro Padilla, abandoned the family shortly after his birth, with his stepfather, Manuel Arias Becerra, being his primary paternal figure throughout his childhood.

From a young age, Arias' mother instilled in him the maxim of "poor but worthy", teaching him and his siblings to wash, iron, and mend their own clothing so as to appear presentable in public.

He carried these ideals to the Higher University of San Andrés, where he studied sociology, additionally becoming self-taught in the fields of economics, local development, and public law.

Arias' service in the PM coincided with a period of political instability in Bolivia, during which time longtime dictator Hugo Banzer was ousted in favor of Juan Pereda.

In the early hours of 24 November 1978, Arias was placed under the command of General Raúl López Leytón, who put him in charge of a military contingent tasked with guarding the Irpavi neighborhood, which housed the presidential residence.

In 1981, he was imprisoned and tortured by the Luis García Meza regime, nearly suffering permanent paralysis on his left side after sustaining two gunshot wounds during a botched escape attempt.

[3][11] Returning to Bolivia, Arias became an early supporter of the nascent indigenist movement, leading the press team that covered the March for Territory and Dignity, in which over 300 lowland indigenous protesters traveled from Trinidad to La Paz demanding State recognition and respect of tribal lands.

[14][15] While working in the Vice President's Office, Arias became involved in the early stages of formulating the Law of Popular Participation, which intended to implement a municipalist system across the country.

[16] Promulgated on 20 April 1994 by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, Law Nº 1551 of Popular Participation deeply decentralized the country, allowing for civic engagement in local public administration by expanding the autonomous power of municipalities.

In journalism, Arias served as a writer for multiple news outlets, later making the jump to television as a political analyst for the program El Abogado del Diablo on UNITEL.

[24][25] On 3 December 2019, after an over seventeen-year political hiatus, Arias returned to government, appointed minister of public works in the caretaker cabinet of President Jeanine Áñez.

[27] In a meeting with Prosecutor General Juan Lanchipa, Arias presented a series of corruption cases against sixteen state entities, alleging irregularities in Bolivian Aviation (BOA) and the National Telecommunications Company (ENTEL), "suspicious" disbursements to Mi Teleférico, and the systemic "destruction" of the ministry's transparency units, among others accusations.

[34] According to sociologist Ricardo Paz, Arias' participation in the controversial Áñez administration as well as allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the ministry recently under his tutelage led many to consider his changes of winning to be slim.

By mid-November, Arias indicated that he was in ongoing talks with multiple fronts, including Civic Community (CC) and Sovereignty and Liberty (SOL.bo), the party of incumbent mayor Luis Revilla.

The pair jointly officialized their candidacies for mayor and governor, respectively, on 28 December, facilitated through For the Common Good – Somos Pueblo (PBCSP), an alliance sponsored by Suma Escoma, a small local organization, and the Social Democratic Movement (MDS), a party with minimal regional presence.

[41] By election night, exit polls conducted by Ciesmori and Focaliza indicated that Arias was the virtual winner, attaining a significant plurality of just under fifty percent.

[43] According to Paz, given Arias' lack of established political presence, "the only possible explanation for his successful performance is attributable to his charisma and the plain, direct, and populist way in which he managed to connect with the electorate".

The plan prioritized public health in the face of an emerging third wave of the pandemic and began the process of implementing the main pillars of Arias' mayoral campaign.

Additionally, Arias stated that all works would prioritize eco-efficiency in their plans, including the installation of solar panels, urban gardens, and water harvesting systems.

[50] Though Arias' initiatives left him with high approval ratings among the city's inhabitants, the mayor also faced pushback for some of his plan's proposals, including the suggestion of raising taxes on homeowners who did not finish painting their facades.

[58] Throughout his mayoral term, Arias faced a cavalcade of legal process instigated by the ruling party, cases he routinely denounced as acts of political persecution.

Arias denounced the ruling as having been made "at the service of the government", lamenting that the restrictions placed on him hindered his ongoing efforts to procure vaccines from foreign companies.

In an opinion peace for Brújula Digital, human rights activist Amparo Carvajal denounced Franco's arrest as an act of "judicialized political persecution" with "Arias [being] the true target [of the] case, for defeating the MAS in the municipal elections".

[66] By early March 2022, Página Siete counted a total of fourteen pending cases against Arias, the majority relating to his term as minister of public works.