Evo Takes Bolivia

Sorry this update took so long. If any of you followed the Dec. 18 elections in Bolivia then you heard about the victory of Evo Morales. And a victory it truely was. He is the first man in Bolivian elections ever to get an actual majority of the vote. He had 51% of the vote which was enough to secure the presidency with no conflict from congress. If no cadidate gets more than 50% then alliances are formed with different candidates and congress selects the new leader, always sort of scandalous as no one ever seems to get more than 30% of the vote. Evo has a 2 big platforms. Coca production and natural gas. The US wants him to completely erradicate the coca production. Evo isn't feeling that so much. He agrees that it needs to be cut back but as a former coca farmer and one who sees it is the livelyhood of many, he isn't willing to cut it all out. As for the natural gas issue, it is privatized at the moment so only a few really rich people seem to be enjoying the success of living in a country with such an abundant natural resource. Evo wants to make it public in hopes of allowing the rest of the country to benefit from its natural resource.

Bolivia is a poor country to be sure and at the moment it would seem that we have a president who represents the majority of people here in Bolivia. It wasn't getting any better with the previous presidents so I'm hoping that Evo can turn it around. The country needs someone who can! The last 3 years here have boasted 4 different presidents, certainly with that kind of turnover not a lot is happening to stabalize the country. This could be the time for some real change.

I haven't been in Bolivia since the 22 of December, but when I left things were really chill and peaceful. Pray that it continues and that some really positive change starts happening!