[Marxism] Bolivia Candidate US Nightmare (BBC Report)

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The leftist front-runner for Sunday's election in Bolivia, Evo Morales, has
ended his campaign saying his movement is "a nightmare for the United States".
Mr Morales has vowed to end free-market policies and legalise the growing of
coca, which has traditional uses but is also used in the production of cocaine.


His main rival, the conservative Jorge Quiroga, ended his campaign promising
to create jobs and prosperity.

Bolivia has had five presidents in four years and is a deeply divided nation.


It is currently governed by interim President Eduardo Rodriguez, who took
office after Carlos Mesa was ousted amid popular protests.

Eight candidates are running in Sunday's election.

Polls suggest that Mr Morales - an Aymara Indian who is hoping to become the
country's first indigenous head of state - has a slight lead over Mr Quiroga,
a former president.

However, Mr Morales appears unlikely to obtain 50% of the vote, meaning that
congress will have to choose a president between the two top candidates in
January.

On Thursday, he told a large crowd in the city of Cochabamba that it was time
for those humiliated by history to run the country, the poorest in South
America.

Washington has said it expects any future Bolivian government to honour
previous commitments to fight the production of illegal drugs.

Mr Quiroga, a US-educated engineer, has called for a "zero coca" policy.

A former World Bank and International Monetary Fund consultant, Mr Quiroga
has said he will concentrate on getting Bolivia's foreign debt cancelled.

He told supporters in the wealthy eastern city of Santa Cruz that only his
party could lead Bolivia forward.

"In this election there are two highways to choose: the highway that leads
backward, that drains our resources and keeps us in underdevelopment," he said.

"Then there is the road that we want to take, the road that leads forward to
progress. First we want jobs, we want to open markets, we want to build new
highways."

Bolivians are also due on Sunday to elect a new congress and new prefects, or
governors, in all of the country's nine departments.





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