[Marxism] Bolivian deft in remaining hero of left

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Those who are trying to understand Evo Morales' political
approach would do well to consider the approach which was
central to that of the success of the Cuban Revolution and
which was spelled out in the famout letter of Jose Marti 
to Manuel Mercado. It was Marti's very last writing, done
just before he was killed in combat during the island's
independence struggle in 1898. Here is the full text:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H32232B37 
==========================================================

MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Sat, Jan. 15, 2005

ANDEAN POLITICS

Bolivian deft in remaining hero of left

Bolivia's main opposition leader praises Hugo Chavez and
Fidel Castro and had a loose alliance with the country's
pro-U.S. president until this week.

BY TYLER BRIDGES
tbridges@xxxxxxxxxx

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Opposition leader Evo Morales found
himself in an uncomfortable position this week: standing on
the sidelines during antigovernment strikes that shut down
the cities of El Alto and Santa Cruz.

But Morales -- distrusted by Washington because of his ties
to Bolivian coca growers and friendship with Presidents
Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela -- made a
deft move that showed why many analysts here believe he
will be a strong contender in the next presidential
election, scheduled for 2007.

Breaking an unofficial alliance with President Carlos Mesa
that has helped prop up his weak government, Morales
publicly demanded that Mesa resign and call an early
election unless he rolls back recent gasoline and diesel
price increases.

Suddenly, reporters were swarming outside his congressional
office, and everyone in political circles was talking again
about whether Morales is a moderate or radical leftist,
whether he is supporting or taking advantage of Mesa.

It's not easy to categorize Morales, a fiery Aymara Indian
who once led the association of Bolivian coca farmers and
ran a strong second in the 2002 presidential election,
winning 21 percent of the vote. His party, Movement Toward
Socialism, known as MAS, has strongly leftist and
anti-American policies.

''When the radicals are powerful, Evo moves toward them,''
said Alvaro García, a leftist university professor who
sometimes advises Morales. ``He fears he will lose his base
of support to the more radical elements.''

'That's what happened this week. In this political crisis,
MAS played no role. That's a catastrophe for the leader of
Bolivia's biggest political party. That's' why he moved to
the left,'' he added.

García noted that Morales also did not play a major role in
bloody street protests in October 2003 that forced
President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to resign. Mesa, vice
president and an independent political novice, took over.

Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian who heads the Latin American
and Caribbean Studies program at Florida International
University, doubts that Mesa could have remained in office
if Morales had not supported Mesa's call for a referendum
last year to settle the country's most explosive issue:
what to do with its huge natural gas reserves.

`CALCULATING'

Radical leaders -- such as Felipe Quispe, a former
congressman, and Jaime Solares, leader of the country's
labor federation -- called for a boycott of the referendum
that most voters ignored.

''The length of Mesa's tenure has been largely due to Evo's
supportive role,'' Gamarra said in a telephone interview
from Miami. ``Evo is a lot of things. But if you understand
his role over the past two years, you see that he behaves
more as a calculating politician.''

Morales got his start as a leader of coca growers -- the
leaf from which cocaine is made can be legally grown in
Bolivia -- in the central Chapare region. He was elected to
Congress in 1997 but was expelled in early 2002 after
antigovernment protests that he organized turned violent.
He was reelected to Congress that July but finished just
behind Sánchez de Lozada in the presidential race.

Morales told The Herald on Thursday that he has no contact
with the U.S. Embassy here but remains quite friendly with
Chávez, an anti-American leftist accused by his Venezuelan
foes of leading the nation toward authoritarian rule.

LESSON FROM CHAVEZ

''Chávez has shown us how to work in a democratic fashion
and stand tough against imperialism,'' Morales said.

Asked about Cuba's leader, Morales said, ``Castro shows us
how to live with dignity and fight against neoliberal
policies.''

While some radical leftists here now reject elections as
the proper way to gain power, Morales has maintained in
recent months that he wants to win power only through the
ballot box.

His views on democracy may have been influenced by a
November 2003 meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva, a leftist who lost his first three bids for
the presidency before winning in 2002.

According to media accounts, Lula, whose moderate policies
once he gained power have boosted Brazil's economy and
surprised analysts, told Morales to be patient, learn from
his defeats to represent all Bolivians, even the economic
elite.

''You cannot be limited to being an indigenous leader or a
coca leader,'' Lula added.

Recalling Lula's advice, a Latin American ambassador said
it could define Morales' future. ''Would Evo as president
be more like Chávez or more like Lula?'' the ambassador
said. ``This is the million-dollar question.''

Posted on Sat, Jan. 15, 2005

ABOUT EVO MORALES

? The son of a poor miner-turned farmer, Morales is 45 and
lives in the central city of Cochabamba.

? He is an Aymara, Bolivia's dominant indigenous group, but
does not speak the Aymara language.

? He opposes free-trade and globalization, favors stopping
the Bolivian government's U.S.-backed coca eradication
campaign and calls the United States an ``imperialistic
empire.''

? He favors sharply increasing taxes on foreign companies
that control Bolivia's natural gas, and forcing them to
operate under new contracts that would make them partners
with the Bolivian government. But he opposes kicking them
out, as some radicals are demanding.




.



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