JUAN EVO MORALES AYMA

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JUAN EVO MORALES AYMA

• President of Bolivia
• Advocate of coca farming by indigenous people

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• Evo Morales is Bolivias first indigenous
  President since the Spanish Conquest
• Belongs to the Aymara, the indigenous people of
  Bolivia
• He was born in Orinoca, Oruro, October 26, 1959
• He is single, so his sister fulfills the duties
  of First Lady.

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2002 ELECTIONS

• January Morales was removed from his seat in
  Congress, and he declared his candidacy for
  presidency soon after
• March His removal was declared unconstitutional,
  but he did not reclaim his seat. Instead, he ran
  as the presidential candidate of the Movimiento
  al Socialismo (MAS) or Movement for Socialism
  Party
• Election Day, June 27 Morales did not win, but
  he did receive 20.94 of votes
• Entered Congress as the leader of MAS, which
  became a strong opposition party to the dominant
  coalition

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2005 ELECTIONS

• March Declared candidacy at a gathering of
  farmer celebrating the 10th anniversary of MAS
• Running against right-wing majority leaders Jorge
  Quiroga, and Samuel Doria Medina
• Preliminary polls indicated a three-way tie
• August 21st Chose running mate Alvaro García
  Linera
• December 4th Morales was ahead in polls with 32
  of vote
• December 14th WSJ reported Morales as having a
  lead of 31, with the margin of error 2.5
• December 18th Official count had Morales with
  53.89 of votes

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INAUGURATION

• January 21, 2006 Morales attended an indigenous
  spiritual ceremony at the pre-Columbian
  archaeological site and modern spiritual center
  of Tiwanaku
• He was crowned as Apu Mallku, or Supreme Leader,
  of the Aymara,
• First time since the days of Tupac Amaru that a
  native American has held sovereign power in
  Bolivia.

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POLITICS MORALES AS A COCA FARMER

• Morales came from an area with a large population
  of coca farmers
• He himself became a coca farmer in his early 20s
• When his father died in 1983, he returned home to
  dedicate himself to his land and family
• Experience as a coca farmer cemented his devotion
  to protection the right to freely cultivate the
  coca leaf

The newly installed president visits the coca
farmersShinaota, Tropics of CochabambaSaturday
January 28th, 2006
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WHAT IS COCA?
Though the Coca-Cola formula is a trade secret,
some believe that coca leaves are still used as
flavorings

• Long before coca was used to make cocaine,
  indigenous people chewed coca leaves as a dietary
  supplement
• Currently, the consumption of coca leaves is an
  integral part of daily life for peasants, miners,
  and workers, and is legally available for sale
• It is rich in protein and vitamins, and it grows
  in regions where other food sources are scarce.

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COCA POLITICS

• The U.S., advocates a zero-tolerance
  coca-eradication policy, in which all coca
  farming is prohibited, even if crops are not used
  in the production of drugs
• President Morales stance is that the cocaine
  problem should be resolved on the consumption
  side, and that farmers who use coca for other
  means should be allowed to cultivate crops
  without fear its destruction through crop dusting
  and military acts
• Both countries have agreed to work against drug
  trafficking. Morales states, "there will be zero
  cocaine, zero drug trafficking, but not zero
  coca.
• In his opinion, zero coca is equivalent to zero
  Aymaras

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MORALES OTHER POLICIES

• Against capitalism
• In January, 2006, he cut his salary by 57 to
  1,875 a month. Prior to the election, he shared
  a flat with other MAS officers.
• Has argued for the establishment of a constituent
  assembly to transform the country
• Proposes the creation of a new hydrocarbon law to
  guarantee at least 50 of revenue to Bolivia.
• Morales has taken a middle ground he supports
  the nationalization of natural gas companies, but
  also supports foreign cooperation in the industry

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REFERENCES

• Bolivia. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5,
  2006, from http//en.wikipedia.org/?wiki/?Bolivia
• Chapman, E., Abasolo, D. (2006, June 12). Viva
  Bolivia! Long live Bolivia!. The Battalion,
  opinion. Retrieved June 13, 2006, from
  http//media.www.thebatt.com/?media/?storage/?pape
  r657/?news/?2006/?06/?12/?Opinion/?Viva-Bolivia-20
  43470.shtml?sourcedomainwww.thebatt.comMIIHostm
  edia.collegepublisher.com
• Coca. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 12, 2006,
  from http//en.wikipedia.org/?wiki/?Evo_Morales
• Coca Botany and History. (n.d.). Evo Morales.
  Retrieved June 13, 2006, from http//www.evomorale
  s.org/
• Evo Morales. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved June
  12, 2006, from http//en.wikipedia.org/?wiki/?Evo_
  Morales
• Kurtz-Phelan, D. (2005, December 22). Bolivia,
  after the election. Slate. Retrieved June 13,
  2006, from http//www.slate.com/?id/?2133057/
• Profile. (n.d.). Evo Morales. Retrieved June 13,
  2006, from http//www.evomorales.org/
• Profile Evo Morales. (2005, December 14). BBC
  News. Retrieved June 12, 2006, from
  http//news.bbc.co.uk/?go/?pr/?fr/?-/?1/?hi/?world
  /?americas/?3203752.stm