Elections

Recipe for victory: run against Bush

You may not have noticed that Bolivia has a new president. See, the mainstream media has spent so much ink covering the same old "freedom marching all over Iraq" speech from our fake president whose never been truly elected that they tend not to put things like real presidents being really elected. Especially when those presidents are elected in Latin America.

But elected he was. The Times of London highlights the key points in the story:

FIVE centuries of white rule in Bolivia have ended with the election of the country’s first indigenous head of state.

Evo Morales, of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), won more than 50 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election, far outstripping all predictions. In his unprecedented first-round victory he left his nearest rival for the presidency, the pro-US Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, more than 20 percentage points behind. Addressing Bolivia’s main indigenous groups during his acceptance speech, Señor Morales, who is an Aymaran Indian, said: “I want to say to the Aymaras, Quechuas, Guaraníes and Chiriguanos that for the first time we are going to be President.” Thousands took to the streets to celebrate. Su pporters crammed into trucks and drove around La Paz chanting “Evo to the palace, Tuto to Washington”.

That last line is the grabber. Because part of the victory campaign involved running against Bush and the USA.

Sound familiar? Yes, freedom from the USA is on the march around the world. And Bush is, true to his campaign promise of 1999, a uniter. He's bringing nations together...against him.

Señor Morales has pledged to nationalise the country’s huge gas reserves and call a constituent assembly to write a new constitution that will reflect the indigenous majority. Ethnic Aymara and Quechua people make up a majority of the 9.3 million population.

He has also promised to ally Bolivia with other regional left-wing leaders such as Presidents Chávez of Venezuela and Castro of Cuba. Señor Chávez was one of the first to telephone to congratulate Señor Morales, whose victory continues Latin America’s shift to the Left. The outcome of the election will be closely watched in Peru, which is to vote for a new president in April. Ollanta Humala, a nationalistic former army officer, has made strong progress in opinion polls there by appealing to the country’s indigenous majority.

See, those leaders coming together? That's called a coalition. It's a word Bush misuses a lot.