Socialist Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, was elected President of Bolivia December 16 with 51% of the vote. In his campaign, Morales, 46, was highly critical of neo-liberal policies and called for the legalization of coca growing. "The fight against drug trafficking has been a pretext for the U .S. government to install military bases," Morales said. He also calls for asserting Bolivian rights over natural gas resources. Morales, who has worked for the rights of coca growers for many years, is the first indigenous person to become President of Bolivia, and won the election with the greatest mandate of any candidate since elections were restored in Bolivia 23 years ago. The party he founded, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), has 78 congressmen, one short of a majority in both houses of the National Congress. Morales has forged positive relations with Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. His election is part of a trend towards left-leaning democracies that is sweeping Latin America. U.S. officials were cautious in responding to the election of Morales—on CNN Condoleezza Rice only said the U.S. would watch and wait, and dodged a question about legalization of coca in Bolivia.
Morales’ Platform on Coca | Narco News on the Election 1 | 2
New American Media Report—Coca is the Tree of the Poor
Photos of election day in Cochabamba, Bolivia by Bolivia Indymedia
Bolivian Democracy and the US: A History Lesson