Evo Morales

Juan Evo Morales Ayma is a trade-union leader and Politician of Bolivia born the October 26th 1959 in the Bolivian Altiplano. It was born in a family Aymara with Orinoca, a town of minors of the Département of Oruro in Bolivia. He is the founder of the Mouvement towards socialism and gained the elections of the December 18th 2005. He takes up duty the January 22nd 2006 and stated to be the first Amerindian president of the Republic of Bolivia of origin (Aymara).

Pre-presidential period

Resulting from a modest family of Indian peasants, it must quickly (with the college) put a term at its schooling to earn its living. He then exerts employment as various as mason, baker or even trumpet player, before carrying out his obligatory military service. He takes finally the way of the Chapare, the zone of colonization of the Andean migrants in the low-grounds of the department of Cochabamba. Vis-a-vis the injustices whose seem to him to be victims the local inhabitants, whose principal incomes are generated by the production of Coca, it decides to engage in the political combat and the trade-union fight. In 1988, the government decides to destroy harvests and to replace them by other cultures, and this without compensation. The policy of eradication of the coke will cause its rancour with respect to the the United States which, according to him, would harm to the small farmers under cover of fight against the narcotraficant S.

He speaks neither the Aymara about his area of origin, nor the Quechua of his area of adoption. Thus at each time Felipe Quispe (a political rival and leader indigenist) put it at the challenge to discuss with him of public and will aymara some, it refused. The case of Evo Morales is not a particular case, many natives do not speak, or badly, their traditional language because partly of their urbanization and their disconnection with their community. In 2006 at the time of the last census, a little more than 50% of Bolivian are identified as indigenous will aymara or quechua and only 40% of enter them have a command of their traditional language
See on this subject the article : Language/Disappearance of the languages .

He thus becomes quickly the leader of the movement of the cocaleros , powerful trade union of the farmers of Coca, then chief of his clean Political party, el Movimiento Al Socialismo (FARMHOUSE), which is placed on the left on the Bolivian political chessboard. Contrary to many trade union leaders whose rhetoric is the principal weapon, Evo Morales is of a more discrete temperament and sometimes proved to be a poor speaker. Appointed since 1997, it was presented to the presidential elections of 2002 and obtained more than 20% of the voices, entering only 2 points of delay on the elected candidate (the liberal Sánchez de Lozada).

In the context of the War of the gas, one sees it at the origin of various social revolts; one allots to him with other trade-union groups the fall of the government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in 2003 and of Carlos Mesa in 2005, in particular on the question of the reserves of Natural gas (larger seconds of the continent after those of the Venezuela). It is also the time when the FARMHOUSE becomes first political clout of the country: in 2004, the local elections allot to the party some 18% votes.

Evo Morales is close to Hugo Chávez in her socialist vision of the Latin America, however with a design indigenist rather than bolivarienne, and also of Fidel Castro. Its adversaries reproach him its proximity with Felipe Quispe, a leader particularly virulent indigenist towards the “ Blancs ”, which held the capacity since colonization although accounting for only 15% of the population of the country.

Presidential election of 2005

He was candidate with the Bolivian presidential election of 2005 of the December 18th 2005 and several surveys gave it victorious as of the first turn (Finally, he obtains there more than 53% of the voices). The December 19th, that until nobody waited a few months before succeeded in the exploit to be the first Aymara to be reached the high position of the State. It could count on the support of Álvaro García Linera, sociologist who theorized the Bolivian social movement, and which occupies the post of vice-president now. Symbolically established by the indigenous representatives on the archeological site of Tiwanaku, it lends oath in front of the Congress and this in the presence of ten Heads of States of Latin America like Europe.

Its first advertisements concern:

production of Coke: he affirmed his will to fight against the drug trafficking and that one of the lines of its future government will be: zero Cocaine, zero drug trafficking . But it specified: there cannot be, under pretext of fight against drug, zero Coke or zero cocaleros (the name of the farmers of Coke), these policies should be changed . And accordingly wishes to see depenalized with the international level the culture of the coke. The chewing of the sheet of Coca is a thousand-year-old tradition in Bolivia, and the effect, although getting a stimulation, has only very little to see with that of cocaine.
the foreign military presence: concerning the the United States, it estimates that under cover of fight against the culture of the coke, the United States installs military bases. He recalled that currently: within the framework of policies to fight against the drug trafficking, the armed forces and the police force are subordinated to armed foreign forces and in uniform . And it does not accept that and added: we will carry out the fight against the drug trafficking, but without any police intervention nor military of a foreign country .
natural stock management: it does not hope to drive out the multinationals of the oil of its country, but to nationalize the Bolivian companies exploiting the natural resources, in particular gas industry and possibly oil. Bolivia indeed has the second South American reserves of Natural gas.

Presidency

The January 21st 2006, at the time of a traditional ceremony on the ruins pre INCA S of Tiwanaku, Evo Morales is established by indigenous representatives, mainly will aymaras, who symbolically make him more the Indian high ranking authority of the country. The January 22nd 2006, in presence in particular of eleven Heads of States of the area and Europe, it lends oath in front of the Congress.

The following day, it names its government made up of sixteen ministers. The various nominations show well a turn on the left of the policy of the country (all are members of the FARMHOUSE, the party of Evo Morales), which it confirmed by declaring that the neoliberal model had “to be changed”. A woman, Alicia Munoz Ale, is named Minister of Interior Department, it is the first at this station in Bolivia. At the time of the speech accompanying the various nominations, the new President reaffirmed his will to fight corruption and required members of his government a “ level zero of corruption and bureaucratie ”.

First governmental difficulties

After a state of three months grace following his election, president Morales is vis-a-vis various movements and is taken between several fires:

within the framework of a supposed policy to better distribute the richnesses, Morales reduced the budgets allotted to the Département of Santa Cruz, frontier of Brazil, which conceals the principal hydrocarbon layers. The Parliament of the area, tendency separatist, announced her strong hostility and addressed a seven days ultimatum for a general strike in the department.
that is accompanied by a disagreement with Brazil in the same area. It relates to the attribution of the license of exploitation of the important layer of Fer and Manganèse of El Mutún. The inhabitants of Puerto Suárez, favorable to the attribution of the license in Brazil, from the point of view of best development economic, took as an hostage the April 18th 2006 during a few hours three ministers of Morals.
the president faces also with social claims the most disadvantaged of, which had contributed to its election.

Bringings together with Venezuela and Cuba

The April 29th 2006, Evo Morales signs with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro a “ Commercial treaty of the peuples ” and declares that refonder is needed the EDGE. We even thought in the name of anti-impérialiste Communauté of the nations . Thus showing its will to join the two countries more “ anti-étasuniens ” of the area. The objective of the three countries is to promote an alternative to the Free exchange zone of Americas (ZLEA or in Spanish ALCA), it would act of a Alternative Bolivarienne for Americas ( ALBA ).

Nationalization of the natural resources

May 1st 2006, Evo Morales announced by Décret the Nationalization of hydrocarbons and the renegotiation of all the contracts of the foreign companies within 180 day. The objective is that 82% of the incomes of hydrocarbons are reserved for the State. The national company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) becomes thus the only authority authorized to market hydrocarbons. On its return of the visit of a hydrocarbon layer in the south of the country, he also announced future nationalizations of other natural resources: We started to nationalize hydrocarbons, tomorrow they will be the mines, the forests and all the natural resources . The main resource of the country remains the Natural gas, Bolivia being the second reserve of the American southern continent after Venezuela. Bolivia counts also more than to double the price of gas, passing from 2,20 dollars the million thermal British links (BTU) at the beginning of May 2006 with 5 dollars, which should thus fill the cases of the State.

This initiative assigns to the first chief the Brazilian company Petrobras and still made assemble of a notch the tension with the government of the Brésil.

Constituent assembly and referendum of autonomy for the Eastern areas

At the end of June at the beginning of July 2006 of a constituent Assembly should be organized the election. In parallel will take place of the Référendum S in connection with a stronger autonomy of the Eastern area of Bolivia, the department of Santa Cruz of the Sierra. Although this claim of decentralization with respect to the central capacity is historically dependant on movements on the left, it is taken again by the economic elite of this department, which benefits from the enrichment of this one since the discovery of hydrocarbons in the area and which fears measurements of nationalization and land reform carried out by Evo Morales. This is why this one, like its party the FARMHOUSE, engages at the beginning of June 2006 in favor of the " Non" with the referendum of autonomy.

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