Bolivia witnessed the election of its first indigenous president as Evo Morales, a 46-year-old Aymara Indian, was declared president-elect December 21 with overwhelming support of the country’s indigenous majority.
The inauguration of the former coca farmer has a hemispheric dimension as he stands as a fervent supporter of the drive of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Cuban President Fidel Castro for regional cooperation to counter U.S. influence as well as being a vocal critic of U.S. anti-drug policies. During his campaign, Morales advertised himself as the nightmare of the United States.
Morales, who came to national political prominence as a leader of coca growers, has been a long-term fighter for legalizing the planting of the crop and protecting its legal religious and medical uses. One of Morales’s major campaign promises is to end the eradication of coca plantations, although the United States regards that as a condition for aiding Bolivia. Many poor Bolivians rely on coca cultivation as their sole source of income.
Another key campaign issue is Morales’s proposal to nationalize natural resources in Bolivia, whose energy resources are second only to Venezuela’s in Latin America. After winning the election, he reaffirmed his vow, saying he would not confiscate refineries or infrastructure owned by multinational corporations; instead, his government would renegotiate contracts so that the companies are partners, but not owners, in developing Bolivia’s resources. While this initiative was well received by the Bolivian people, critics suspect it will dry up foreign investment in resources, costing the country a huge economic toll.
As a leader with a close link to the poor majority of the country, Morales is firmly opposed to a neoliberal approach to pulling his country out of poverty, and his election was the latest in a string of leftist victories in South American nations. Immediately after he won the election, his think tank reportedly began ironing out a new tax to be imposed on people with more than $300,000 in property, which he considered a top priority for the new government.
“The fight against drug trafficking is a false pretext for the United States to install military bases and we’re not in agreement. We support an effective fight against drugs. Neither cocaine nor drug trafficking is part of the Bolivian culture.”
Evo Morales
“Morales will be supported externally by Brazil and Venezuela. The United States will probably try to stay on the sidelines, fearful that any measures to curb Morales will backfire into greater support for him, as they did in 2002, when Washington threatened to withdraw aid if Morales was elected, a threat that was not repeated this time around.”
Michael A. Weinstein Professor of Political Science at Purdue University
“What I’m hoping is the United States will listen to him [Evo Morales] and try to hear his concerns and not just try to impose a policy on Bolivia unilaterally.”
Nicolas Shumway Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies
at the University of Texas, Austin
“We will do what we do with every elected government or elected president, which is to say that we’ll look to the behavior of the Bolivian Government to determine the course of U.S.-Bolivian relations. From our point of view, this is a matter of behavior.”
Condoleezza Rice U.S. Secretary of State