As you've said it was an old thread. Thus, i've moved the message to create a new discussion in order for LindaLynda to obtain better responses from other members of the Forum.
No foreigner without Bolivian cedula can open a bank account. Tried and failed. The normal latino "can't say no" will get on the way and you might actually waste some time in some banks but it will not go anywhere. The Bolivian residency is not that difficult at all to get. See the immigration website.
I live in Argentina and because of the mess here with the exchange rates I wanted to open an account in USD abroad. Bolivia is not an option unless you want to get a residency there. I found one bank in Paraguay and many banks in Uruguay that would do that (open an account for non-resident). Cheers!