Bolivia leader halves his own pay

[ckramer]

The Bolivian new left-wing President, Evo Morales, has cut his salary by more than a half to a little over $1,800 (£1,012) per month.

The decision means that the salaries of all Bolivian public sector employees will be reviewed, as no official can earn more than the president.

Mr Morales said the money saved would be used to increase the numbers of doctors and teachers.

Mr Morales suggested that members of Congress should cut their salaries too.

link

Haha, talking about examples for American politicians!

[Proud2BaLiberalMom]

1. WOW!

What a guy!

Our leaders would NEVER do that.

:crazy:

[bigjohn16]

2. Now thats a leader. nt

[alarcojon]

3. Que viva Evo!

What a class act. Bush, on the other hand, cut his taxes in half instead!

[ewoden]

4. Late Breaking news . . .

American President halves own brain!!

[w13rd0]

5. dang

interesting

[Judi Lynn]

6. New Bolivian Leader Cuts Salary in Half

New Bolivian Leader Cuts Salary in Half
Friday, January 27, 2006
(01-27) 09:12 PST LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) --

New President Evo Morales cut his salary by more than half and ordered that no Cabinet minister collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings earmarked for hiring more public school teachers.

In one of the first decrees of his five-day-old administration, the leftist former street activist said his monthly salary would be 15,000 bolivianos, or the equivalent of about $1,700.

"I ask for (the ministers') understanding and efforts to try meet this demand, not for Evo but for the people," Morales said after a Thursday meeting with his Cabinet.

"We need 6,000 new teachers and there is only money for 2,200."
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/27/international/i091222S02.DTL

[ret5hd]

7. i'm an atheist...

but i hedge my bets by praying for evo and hugo.

[cantstandbush]

16. I am with you on that. Their big worry is the fascist nation to the north

These men are no doubt in the crosshairs of our special ops but I hope they live as long as Castro has to help their people shake off the chains of corrupt capitalism and it's warmongering.

[Judi Lynn]

18. It's not going to be easy, either.Our right-wing has absolutely NO respect

for human life if it's not European, and even then, if it's not likely to bend over for them.

[Judi Lynn]

30. They will need all the help they can get, because if they aren't well

protected, they will both be murdered in a heartbeat by interests from outside Bolivia and Venezuela.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

January 28, 2006
Bolivia's president slashes his salary to pay teachers

La Paz, Bolivia -- President Evo Morales cut his salary by more than half and declared no Cabinet minister can collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings to be used to hire more public school teachers.

The move followed a campaign pledge to tackle political corruption and restore honesty to the government of South America's poorest country. But critics called it a propaganda ploy that will do little to help the needy.
Five days into his leftist government, Morales announced Thursday his salary would be $1,875 a month -- a 57 percent cut from the previous president's earnings -- and that his Cabinet would also have their salaries capped at that figure.
Morales' predecessor earned $4,362 a month. The yearly savings of more than $31,340 on the president's income is about enough in Bolivia to pay the annual salaries of 10 veteran teachers.
(snip/)

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060128/NEWS06/601280452/1012

[Judi Lynn]

32. I just found an article which would suggest they are already on the move

against him, by attempting to bear down hard on Bolivians producing coca, the plant they've been growing and using for thousands of years. It would appear they are going to start pushing him into a corner on the issue:

U.S. State Dept. Steps Up Support of Bolivian Counterdrug Ops, Despite Morales' Rise to Power
By Stephen Peacock,
Posted on Wed Jan 25th, 2006 at 09:19:38 PM EST
The Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) of the U.S. State Dept. is taking action to “allow for an expansion of NAS support to counternarcotics operations in Bolivia,” according to a department planning document that was obtained, and had just begun circulating, today. This otherwise unannounced escalation of U.S.-backed counterdrug missions comes four days after Evo Morales – a vociferous advocate of the rights of coca-crop farmers – took office as Bolivia’s first Indian president.

The first step toward expanding NAS-backed activities is the planned purchase of up to 90 heavy duty pick-up trucks, which will be delivered to “the Government of Bolivia pursuant to an agreement with the U.S. Department of State,” according to a Jan. 25 procurement notice found through a routine search of the FedBizOpps contracting database.
Although the U.S. Embassy in La Paz will buy the trucks to replace old ones, a closer look at the planning document reveals that the planned acquisition is not just a routine matter. Rather than simply replacing an aging fleet of off-highway 4x4s, the new fleet of vehicles will heighten the capability of counterdrug forces to transport personnel and supplies during these expanded operations, many of which will take place in rural regions of the country where President Morales spent most of his life living and working among coca growers.

It’s unclear where the Morales Administration stands on this escalation of U.S. supported operations, considering that the Morales campaign had run on a platform opposing U.S.-backed eradication of the Bolivian coca leaf, the primary ingredient used to produce cocaine. He has pledged to hold a national referendum enabling the Bolivian people to decide whether to allow the continued but limited harvesting of coca for domestic consumption. Meanwhile, Morales has simultaneously vowed to crack down on cocaine cartels that traffic the drug internationally.
(snip/...)

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/1/25/211938/528

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With this _Bush crowd, as you know, ANYTHING can be spun into a reason for invasion.

[phoebe]

8. He's also pledged to raise taxes on the rich - do we smell a coup coming?

n/t

[Zynx]

10. It is certainly a risk.

However, such a move would likely spark civil war as that would thoroughly piss off the indigenous majority.

[phoebe]

17. read up on the International Republican Institute and the National

Endowment for Democracy organizations headquarted in the US. They have vowed to go after any left leaning administrations in the next few years - especially those in the Southern hemisphere.

[Judi Lynn]

33. Whatever it is we smell, it's not good. Here's some info. which has been

well concealed from our awareness, from The Nation:

article | posted January 27, 2006 (web only)
New Day for Bolivia
Tom Hayden

~snip~
The State Department reportedly already was moving to force Bolivia into an Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA, as in NAFTA or CAFTA) that would lock Morales's new government into subordination to the multinationals. US Undersecretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Thomas Shannon was signaling privately that while Washington might be open to "dialogue" on the issues of hydrocarbons and coca planting, the issue of free trade itself was non-negotiable.

The Cost of Free Trade

In its effort to head off Morales, the US is allied with Bolivian businessman Marcos Iberkleid, the descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland, and owner of a textile consortium known as Ametex (America Textil SA). Previous US-dominated Bolivian governments have envisioned Ametex, which employs 4,500 workers, as the motor of a textile-based exports strategy. For Iberkleid, this requires winning an extension on tariff preferences for textile exports to the US, currently due to expire at the end of this year. The US says that it will favor the extension only if Bolivia signs off on an overall free trade agreement.

One graphic example of how free trade pacts work is that the US plans to assert a right to patent plants and animals under intellectual property rights provisions. "It's against Andean policies and traditions," Solon almost shouts. Further, US drug companies and agricultural interests will seek to extend their patent rights from twenty to twenty-seven years. And Bolivia will have to surrender its judicial sovereignty over trade disputes, declared in Article 135 of its Constitution, to closed-door AFTA arbitration panels dominated by corporate property interests.

Enter Iberkleid, the Bolivian point man for the free-trade agenda. His credit rating was a "D" on December 30, according to the Fitch Ratings Index. He desperately seeks to keep filling the orders of his principal corporate client, Polo Ralph Lauren. The US embassy in La Paz has opened its doors three times to welcome Iberkleid's workers in their campaign in support of AFTA. By contrast, when Bolivian citizens petition the embassy for the Bolivian government's own request to extradite former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada from Miami to prosecute him for the deaths of dozens of demonstrators in 2004, they get only as far as the security blockades at the embassy gate.
(snip/...)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/hayden

(Yet another Latin American villain/idiot hiding from his country in Miami!)

[malaise]

37. The civil servants will start the

sabotage and receive loads of help from you know who.

[frylock]

9. how refreshing to see such a selfless act..

big ups to Presidente Morales!!

[LynzM]

11. Nice move...

Glad to see someone in power acting like a decent human being!

[balzac]

12. Indigenous Socialist Uprising in Latin America!

Viva Evo Morales! Viva Bolivia! Viva Venezuela! Viva Hugo Chavez! Viva La Revolucion!

:D :D :D

[alarcojon]

35. Que viva!

and welcome to DU, balzac. :toast:

[0rganism]

13. Wow, no kidding? Morales puts a smile on my face

For all their bluster about lowering government waste, you will NEVER see an "elected" republican asking to lower pay for his position.

[Vidar]

14. How a real leader acts when his people are in trouble,

while shrub & Brownie play in their $10,l000 suits.

[happydreams]

15. Latin America is becoming the "example" the

neo-feudalists fear most. We need a steady drumbeat of news like this combined with the reality of what Chavez,Morales, Castro and others have done for their countries. Chile's Bachulet, whose father was murdered by Pinochet thugs is also showing signs of being a great leader by seeking unity and reconciliation.
How can you argue with the deeds of these people? Forget all the "isms" gibberish, let's just look at the facts.

K&R.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Kick!

http://www.dw-world.de/image/0,,1765549_4,00.jpg

Argentinian soccer star, Diego Maradona and Evo Morales.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

20. Bolivia's Morales takes pay cut

Bolivia's Morales Halves His Earnings and Ministers' Salaries
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales honored an election pledge to halve his earnings and ministers' salaries, four days after being sworn in as the Latin American country's fifth leader since 2002.

Morales at his first cabinet meeting yesterday approved a decree that reduced his monthly earnings by 57 percent to 15,000 Bolivianos ($1,875) a month, and cut ministers' salaries by half, the presidential office said in an online statement.

``I'm reiterating to the Bolivian people the politics of public service,'' Morales said in the statement. The funds saved will be used for spending on health and education, he said.

Yesterday's decree also said that no civil servant nor public sector worker can earn more than the president. The new salary scale will come into effect on March 1, according to the statement.

more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aEd70FhnEIbU

[firefox]

21. Compare that ideal with the service of Alaska's Senator Ted Steven's

Jeffrey St. Clair, co-editor of CounterPunch.org, is most knowledgable about the subject of the environment. Today he wrote a piece on Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska that is now filthy rich from his "service" to the country. It is titles "King of the Hill- Senator Ted Stevens' Empire of Corruption" - http://counterpunch.org/stclair01272006.html

The media will attack Morales and ignore all the corruption in Warshington. Wealthy Rule sure has done some good entrenchment design with the controlled media.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Bolivia's Morales Halves His Earnings and Ministers' Salaries

Bolivia's Morales Halves His Earnings and Ministers' Salaries

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales honored an election pledge to halve his earnings and ministers' salaries, four days after being sworn in as the Latin American country's fifth leader since 2002.

Morales at his first cabinet meeting yesterday approved a decree that reduced his monthly earnings by 57 percent to 15,000 Bolivianos ($1,875) a month, and cut ministers' salaries by half, the presidential office said in an online statement.

``I'm reiterating to the Bolivian people the politics of public service,'' Morales said in the statement. The funds saved will be used for spending on health and education, he said.

Yesterday's decree also said that no civil servant nor public sector worker can earn more than the president. The new salary scale will come into effect on March 1, according to the statement.

The Bolivian presidential salary was previously set at 26,900 Bolivianos, with an additional 8,000 Bolivianos for expenses. Total ministerial earnings, including expenses, were reduced to 14,000 Bolivianos from 24,875 Bolivianos, a cut that incorporated a 50 percent reduction in their salary. The salaries of vice-ministers and heads of public bodies were also reduced, according to the statement.
(snip/...)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aEd70FhnEIbU&refer=latin_america

[Judi Lynn]

29. Apparently somethings get lost in the translation! Like this article

published in Ireland. I've seen articles on Evo Morales' pay cut since I posted the first one here several days ago. This is the FIRST one I've seen used to stab the guy in the back:

Bolivia's President slashes salary
28/01/2006 - 15:24:09

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has cut his salary by more than half and declared no Cabinet minister can collect a higher wage than his – €1,500 a month - with the savings going towards hiring more teachers.

The move followed a campaign pledge to tackle political corruption and restore honesty to the government of South America’s poorest country, although critics called it a propaganda ploy that would do little to help the needy.

Morales decreed his new salary, down from the previous president’s monthly income of €3,500, five days into his left-wing government.
(snip/)

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=170914834&p=y7x9y554x

[Selatius]

23. Morales earns my respect. Bush...not so much.

Any person in power who fights and sacrifices for the better of his own people is any person I would be proud to fight alongside. I can't say the same about my own president though.

[On the Road]

24. That is One of the Most Powerful Things a Leader Can Do

-- set an example of dedication and thrift. Leaders today in government and business are by and large greedy bastards. One reason the North Vietnamese won is that their generals were down in the trenches with the troops, eating the same rations and suffering the same hardships. It's a reason Cuba has survived and Eastern Europe didn't.

When Robert Townsend was chairman of Avis Rent-a-Car in the 60s, he refused to have a salary higher than his division chiefs, which at that time was $35,000. Seems hard to believe, even with inflation. Lee Iacocca basically refused to take a salary until he had brought Chrysler back from the edge of bankruptcy to profitability. CEOs today disgust me.

The shadow of the leader spreads all throughout the organization. In a large organization of any type, every dollar wasted at the top wastes a thousand elsewhere. And Bush is the most wasteful president the country has ever had IMO.

[Triana]

25. George bu$hit and his regime SHOULD take a lesson from this..

...of course I know they won't.

[Peace Patriot]

26. "The Dream" is alive and well in South America!

The dream of justice and equality and world peace and real democracy, and sustainable living in order to preserve our beautiful planet--the dream that many of us here in the U.S. dreamed in the 1960s--is not dead, my friends. It has never been dead here--just eclipsed by the Bush junta. Meanwhile, it has flowered in South America!

Don't worry so much about Evo Morales. Whenever more good news is posted here from South America, some DUers always jump in with fears of assassination and Bush plots. My mind sometimes leaps that way, too. It seems realistic. We've had so many political assassinations here, and our country has done such dirty deeds to other countries, especially in South/Central America. But I've begun to think that these fears may be coming from our general ignorance of what is happening in South America. And it may be that we are allowing our "daemon" to speak--our shadow selves, that negative inner voice that always projects fear and predicts the worst, and holds us back both from feeling joy and from taking action toward a better world. Take another look at Evo Morales' photograph. Does this man look afraid?

Leftist governments are sweeping South America. Virtually the entire map of the subcontinent has turned "blue"--Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and now Bolivia. And the indigenous victory in Bolivia is very likely to influence upcoming Peruvian elections. What's left? Columbia, Paraguay, two corruption ridden countries that are now quite isolated. This is a profound revolution, involving the entire region. It cannot be stopped by picking off a few visible leaders. It is coming from BELOW--so to speak--from the PEOPLE. It is also the result of a lot of hard work on election integrity, over a long period of time--by the OAS, by EU groups, by the Carter Center and by local groups (work that we need to be doing here in the U.S). (It's amazing what you can do if you have transparent elections!)

And the South American countries with good, that is, leftist, governments--nearly the whole subcontinent--are banding together for economic, political and regional security. They are creating regional economic projects and cooperation, and are reaching laterally across both oceans to make their own alliances and trade agreements. The vast populations involved and their leaders are not stupid. They know their history. They know what a threat the Bush junta poses to them. They are fully aware of the ways they have been oppressed, exploited and impoverished. South Americans are far savvier than most North Americans on these matters. This peaceful, democratic revolution is the RESULT of all that history and of the lessons they have learned about US, as well as about their own rich/rightwing elites.

Venezuela and Bolivia in particular, are determined to use oil/gas resources as a bootstrap for the poor. But what is critically different between this revolution and past revolutions is that there is no Marxist ideology driving political decisions. The political decisions are being driven by PRAGMATISM, which is aimed in general at equity and empowerment. For instance, Venezuela nationalized its oil some time ago, and the gov't negotiates contracts with the likes of Chevron (which develops the resource), with the gov't getting part of the revenues. Those revenues are now being more equitably distributed--to build schools, medical clinics and provide other services in poor areas (never before served by gov't). Chavez's adult literacy program has already reached its 100% literacy goal (in four years!). And Chavez is pragmatically using FREE DOCTORS offered by Cuba to staff the medical clinics.

So, go figure: Gas guzzling SUVs in the US are fueling fundamental reform in Venezuela. Chevron has to deal with a tough negotiator (Chavez). Everybody gets their cut, including the poor. And Cuba gets "brownie points" to recover from its pariah status. Chavez is meanwhile funding small business grants to promote economic diversification (and has also inspired a regional public TV station, to counter the corporate monopoly news both here and there). This is not to say that Chevron is benign. They were undoubtedly involved in the strike of the rich oil elite that nearly crippled Venezuela, and possibly in other U.S. evil-doing. However, they, too, are pragmatists. THEY can see that this is NOT just Chavez--the highly visible, colorful leader. When the U.S. tried a coup, ten thousand Venezuelans came out into the streets of Caracas and STOPPED it. They were NOT about to be deprived of their elected president!

What WE see and hear of the South American revolution is what our war profiteering corporate news monopolies wants us to see and hear--a very limited and hostile palaver about "self-styled leftist" Chavez and his red beret. The truth leaks through, because Chavez is one hell of a clever politician (providing cheap heating oil to poor people in the U.S.--what a P.R. coup!--as well as a real help). But they play up personalities, and nearly completely black-hole the HONEST elections by which Chavez got to be president, and the huge support he has, and what that means.

Here's a good web site on South America and Venezuela: www.venezuelanalysis.com.

I was going to say, rather than worry about Evo Morales being assassinated by the Bush junta, maybe we should be looking in our own back yard and re-open the investigation of Paul Wellstone's plane crash (not to mention investigating the stand-down of the US Air Force/NORAD on 9/11). But I forget, sometimes, how little power we have, as a result of Bush junta control of our election system (the votes tabulated by rightwing Bushite corporations, using "trade secret," proprietary programming code).

If the South American revolution teaches us nothing else, I hope it is this: Step #1 is transparent elections.

[JanMichael]

36. Good post! However ther is still some Marxist theory in what they are...

...doing. Which I applaud as I wish the same for us.

And I might add that when, and I am fairly certain that it's when, the right-wing, religious conservative, corporatist wealthy fuckers try to stop these revolutions from the ballot boxes there will be trouble.

Because Capitalists do no cede very much power before they resort to coups and assasinations. It always happens when their control over the media does not keep people brainwashed.

[Peace Patriot]

27. Kicked and recommended! All DUers and all Americans should learn

about Evo Morales cutting his salary in half. Such a beautiful thing it is! Says it all!

[ninkasi]

28. He is a wonderful example

of what a leader should be. He's a really beautiful man, isn't he?

[leesa]

31. McCain: "Filthy, Wacko, Commie!!"

[Peace Patriot]

34. Here's an excellent article on So. America. Best I've read!

http://venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1654

"Latin America Shifts Left: It's the Economy - by Mark Weisbrot, Alternat

Saturday, Jan 21, 2006

"Evo Morales' election in Bolivia, with an unprecedented (for that country) 54 percent of the vote, is seen and analyzed here mostly in political terms. He is a former head of the coca growers union and opposes the U.S.-sponsored attempts to eradicate the production of coca. He has talked about nationalizing the natural gas resources now owned by foreign corporations. "We're not just anti-neoliberal, we're anti-imperialist in our blood," he proclaimed at a recent campaign rally. These things will be more than enough to ensure that he does not get a fair hearing here in the United States.

"But we would do well to step back from the politics for a moment and look at this election in economic terms. This explains a lot what is happening in Bolivia, and indeed across most of the region. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America -- its GDP (or annual income) per person is only $2,800, as compared to $8,200 for the Latin American region and $42,000 in the United States.

"Bolivia has also been subject to IMF agreements almost continuously (except for eight months) since 1986. And it has done what the experts from Washington have wanted, including privatizing nearly everything that could be sold. Among the most notorious was the water system of Cochabamba, which led to the famous "water war" against Bechtel (the buyer) in 1999-2000 after many residents got priced out of the market. The country's Social Security system was also privatized.

"But nearly 20 years of these structural reforms -- or "neoliberalism" as Morales and most Latin Americans call it -- have brought little in the way of economic benefits to the average Bolivian. Amazingly, the country's per capita income is actually lower today than it was 25 years ago. And 63 percent of Bolivians live below the poverty line.

"So Morales' declarations cannot be dismissed as just populist campaign rhetoric. In fact, the economic failure of the last 25 years is both regional and unprecedented. For Latin America as a whole, income per person -- the most basic number that economists have to measure economic progress -- has grown by about 1 percent for the first five years of this decade. From 1980 to 2000, it grew by only 9 percent. Compare that to 82 percent for the 1960-1980 period -- before most of the neoliberal reforms began -- and it is easy to see that this is the worst long-term economic failure in modern Latin American history.

"Here in Washington, most economists and policymakers have either ignored this profound regional economic failure or maintain that is has nothing to do with the structural reforms of the last 25 years. On the contrary, they argue that the reforms did not go far enough -- and that is the position of the Bush administration as well.

"But most Latin Americans aren't buying it. This difference over economic policy -- much more than drug policy, the war in Iraq, immigration, or Cuba -- is the main thing that has set Washington on a collision course with most of Latin America. Evo Morales is now the sixth candidate in the last seven years to win a presidential race while campaigning explicitly against "neoliberalism." The others were in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Uruguay. And there will likely be more in the near future, as there are 10 more presidential elections scheduled in Latin America over the next year... (MORE - much more - great article!)

----

I'm gonna do an OP on this (posting this article).

[SOS]

38. Meanwhile back in the USA...

"Effective Jan. 1, 2001, the salary of the president of the United States was increased to $390,000 per year including a $50,000 expense account. "
A 100% increase for Dubya.

[Lisa]

39. half of $400k is STILL too high for Bush! (n/t)