Bolivia's Indian Socialist Leader

["Jay Moore" <pieinsky@xxxxxxx>]

Evo Morales: from coca fields to the corridors of power in Bolivia
AFP - 7/10/2002

LA PAZ - Socialist Evo Morales took a surprising second place in Bolivia's
presidential vote, launching him Tuesday into an August run-off with
ex-president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to be decided in Congress.

Morales, who is of indigenous Quechua and Aymara descent, captured about 21
percent of the vote campaigning on a platform to bring back coca leaf
production to Bolivia, South America's only majority indigenous country.
Coca leaf is the raw material from which cocaine is processed, and is used
in teas as a traditional Andean herb thought to help fight altitude
sickness.

Five days before the election U.S. ambassador to Bolivia Manuel Rocha spoke
out against Morales, threatening to cut off U.S. aid if Morales was elected,
and warning voters against electing "those who want Bolivia to become a
major cocaine exporter again."

The remarks outraged many Bolivians, and Rocha was rebuked by Bolivia's
National Electoral Court. Analysts said the remarks only served to bolster
Morales, who was running fourth in the polls before the election.

Morales, 42, who says he has received death threats from Washington, went so
far as to dub Rocha his "best campaign chief."

The leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party, Morales was born in the
poor small village of Isayavi in the south.

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Full article: http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=29939



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