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Leftist Morales claims victory in Bolivia
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-20 09:47
The leftist who claimed victory in Bolivia's presidential race on Monday
repeated his promise to end a U.S.-backed program to eradicate coca plants,
saying the crop that provides the raw material for cocaine is part of Bolivian
culture.
Evo Morales 錕斤拷 himself a coca farmer who played an important role in protests
that unseated two governments 錕斤拷 also pledged Monday to respect private property,
apparently seeking to reassure investors despite his plans to assert state
ownership over Bolivia's vast natural gas reserves.
With almost 25 percent of the official votes counted, Morales holds a lead of
nearly 47 percent with his conservative rival Jorge Quiroga getting 36 percent,
according to the National Electoral Court. On Sunday, Quiroga conceded defeat.
If the results hold, Morales would be the first Indian president in the
180-year history of independent Bolivia and solidify a continental leftward
shift.
Morales was congratulated by Venezuela's self-proclaimed revolutionary leader
Hugo Chavez and by the more centrist Socialist president of Chile, Ricardo
Lagos. No early call came from the United States, and Morales said, "neither was
I expecting one."
A State Department spokeswoman, Jan Edmondson, later said in Washington that
"while official results have not yet been released, we congratulate Evo Morales
on his apparent victory."
She said the U.S. has had good relations with Bolivia in the past and "we're
prepared to work to build the same relationship with the next government."
Morales has been an irritant for Washington for years while he has built
close ties with Cuban President Fidel Castro and Chavez. A State Department
report earlier this year referred to him as an "illegal-coca agitator."
The site of his news conference 錕斤拷 the offices of the coca growers union where
he rose to political prominence 錕斤拷 showed that his apparent victory did not
mellow his crusade against U.S. coca-eradication efforts.
"We are betting on an effective fight against narcotrafficking because
neither cocaine nor drug trafficking is part of Bolivian culture," Morales said.
He has not said how he will stop illegal drug exports, complaining instead
that "the fight against drug trafficking has been a pretext for the U.S.
government to install military bases ... and these policies will be revised."
Morales also defended coca as an integral part of Bolivian culture.
"It's not possible that the coca leaf can be legal for Coca Cola and not for
us. It's hypocritical," he said.
In Atlanta, Coca-Cola Co. spokeswoman Kirsten Watt declined to say this month
whether cocaine-free coca extract is part of the drink's secret recipe. It has
been widely reported that cocaine-free extract derived from coca is part of the
drink's secret recipe.
Morales also said a governing Movement Toward Socialism party "is not only
going to respect, but is going to protect private property," although "vacant,
unproductive land" would be turned over to farmers with no land or very little.
His comments echoed policies already in place in Venezuela to grant the poor
title to land owned by big companies or individuals that has been deemed
unproductive by the government.
He said, however, that multinational companies would be paid to help in
natural gas exploration and to develop the industry.
If Morales falls short of the clear majority he would need to win outright,
Bolivia's congress would decide the winner, but it would be under enormous
pressure to choose the clear front-runner.
No candidate in decades has won by such a landslide, and Morales' apparent
success marks a turning point in a country traditionally governed by the
non-Indian elite. Like most Bolivians, Morales grew up in extreme poverty; only
two of his six brothers and sisters survived childhood in Bolivia's bleak Andean
highlands.
"The people have dealt him a very strong mandate," said Former Foreign
Minister Gustavo Fernandez. He said congressional confirmation would be a "mere
formality" if Morales falls short of a straight majority.
Fernandez considers the election a dramatic triumph for South America's
leftists: After years of strikes, protests and barricade-building, the people
are finally in the position to demand more power from entrenched ruling classes.
"This isn't just about Bolivia; this is happening across Latin America,"
Fernandez said. "There is now a wave of popular movements sweeping across the
region, not only in Bolivia but also in Uruguay, Brazil and other countries."
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