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12-20-2005, 08:34 PM
Morales 'certain of Bolivia win' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4544768.stm)
Bolivian socialist leader Evo Morales has won enough votes in the country's presidential election to be installed as leader, electoral officials say.
The country's electoral court confirmed that with almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Mr Morales' share was enough for him to win.
Mr Morales, an indigenous Aymara coca farmer, has called for an alliance with the US against drug trafficking.
In a BBC interview, though, Mr Morales defended traditional uses of coca.
Mr Morales' win has raised eyebrows in the US, after he expressed his admiration for the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
He has also pledged to fight to remove the coca plant from the United Nations list of poisonous plants, and stressed his keenness to increase state control over Bolivia's lucrative natural gas industry.
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Ok, for what its worth I am going to say good for Boliva based on one thing and one thing only: Their FIRST indigenous democratically elected president. (stipulated)
I get the feeling the US has played around too much with SA, setting up puppets and moving things to the US benefit and now we are seeing the backlash. Over all this time we could have cultivated a hemispherical union but instead we have dictated through shady means. This is just my impression.
Can an indian coca farmer step up to the world stage? Will his policies withstand? Its up or down at this point and only time will tell. The people of Bolivia seem to have said, “Yes.”
Bolivia was named after Simon Bolivar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bolivar), their first president. A rich Spaniard who immigrated, then fought for independence, from Spain.
[Edited on 12-21-2005 by Backlash]
Bolivian socialist leader Evo Morales has won enough votes in the country's presidential election to be installed as leader, electoral officials say.
The country's electoral court confirmed that with almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Mr Morales' share was enough for him to win.
Mr Morales, an indigenous Aymara coca farmer, has called for an alliance with the US against drug trafficking.
In a BBC interview, though, Mr Morales defended traditional uses of coca.
Mr Morales' win has raised eyebrows in the US, after he expressed his admiration for the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
He has also pledged to fight to remove the coca plant from the United Nations list of poisonous plants, and stressed his keenness to increase state control over Bolivia's lucrative natural gas industry.
-----------------------------------------------
Ok, for what its worth I am going to say good for Boliva based on one thing and one thing only: Their FIRST indigenous democratically elected president. (stipulated)
I get the feeling the US has played around too much with SA, setting up puppets and moving things to the US benefit and now we are seeing the backlash. Over all this time we could have cultivated a hemispherical union but instead we have dictated through shady means. This is just my impression.
Can an indian coca farmer step up to the world stage? Will his policies withstand? Its up or down at this point and only time will tell. The people of Bolivia seem to have said, “Yes.”
Bolivia was named after Simon Bolivar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bolivar), their first president. A rich Spaniard who immigrated, then fought for independence, from Spain.
[Edited on 12-21-2005 by Backlash]