More crystal ball...
LA Times today...
Bolivia enacts broad land-reform bill
Conservatives fear the leftist president is headed toward authoritarian rule.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Times Staff Writer
November 30, 2006
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — Allies of President Evo Morales on Wednesday celebrated the surprising passage of an ambitious agrarian reform bill, a cornerstone of Morales' provocative leftist agenda.
"The time of the humble ones has arrived," declared Sen. Felix Rojas of Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party, known as MAS. "They will inherit the land." But passage of the bill, signed into law by an exuberant Morales near midnight Tuesday, also bared anew the deep divides in South America's poorest nation.
Morales, a former leader of coca leaf cultivators, has presented himself during his first year in office as a champion of the country's impoverished indigenous masses, long beholden to an elite of European and mixed-race ancestry.
...
Silicon Jack in Latin Trade, March 2004
Down from the mountain
Bolivia's new leader can make indigenous people happy, or investors, but probably not both.
Latin America's indigenous groups, which haven't wielded much power since the Spanish conquest, have been increasing their clout. Their political presence is suddenly being felt in Mexico, Ecuador and Peru. Most recently, in Bolivia, indigenous protesters toppled President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
This should be no surprise. Centuries of exploitation by and corruption among European descendants have marginalized most indigenous peoples, who make up about 8% of Latin America's 519 million inhabitants and routinely rank among its poorest. As free-trade pressures rise, indigenous protesters have risen to challenge them.
...
Bolivia enacts broad land-reform bill
Conservatives fear the leftist president is headed toward authoritarian rule.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Times Staff Writer
November 30, 2006
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — Allies of President Evo Morales on Wednesday celebrated the surprising passage of an ambitious agrarian reform bill, a cornerstone of Morales' provocative leftist agenda.
"The time of the humble ones has arrived," declared Sen. Felix Rojas of Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party, known as MAS. "They will inherit the land." But passage of the bill, signed into law by an exuberant Morales near midnight Tuesday, also bared anew the deep divides in South America's poorest nation.
Morales, a former leader of coca leaf cultivators, has presented himself during his first year in office as a champion of the country's impoverished indigenous masses, long beholden to an elite of European and mixed-race ancestry.
...
Silicon Jack in Latin Trade, March 2004
Down from the mountain
Bolivia's new leader can make indigenous people happy, or investors, but probably not both.
Latin America's indigenous groups, which haven't wielded much power since the Spanish conquest, have been increasing their clout. Their political presence is suddenly being felt in Mexico, Ecuador and Peru. Most recently, in Bolivia, indigenous protesters toppled President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
This should be no surprise. Centuries of exploitation by and corruption among European descendants have marginalized most indigenous peoples, who make up about 8% of Latin America's 519 million inhabitants and routinely rank among its poorest. As free-trade pressures rise, indigenous protesters have risen to challenge them.
...
posted by Greg Brown at 11:17 AM
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