Headed for re-election (Evo Morales)

[Judi Lynn]

Headed for re-election
Sep 10th 2009
From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire

Evo Morales expects to be re-elected in Bolivia in December


The political focus in Bolivia is now firmly fixed on presidential and legislative elections to be held on December 6th, at which the incumbent president, Evo Morales, and vice-president, Álvaro Garcia Línera, both of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), will stand for consecutive re-election—a first in Bolivian political history. Their victory seems a foregone conclusion, given the weakness of the opposition and the lack of a rival strong enough to challenge Mr Morales.

The fragmented opposition is comprised of a mixture of old faces attempting to revive their political careers, regional leaders seeking to project themselves nationally and newcomers hoping to gain from public fatigue and scepticism about the traditional political opposition. None seems poised to dent the governing party’s hold on power.

Over the past four years the opposition inside Congress has been headed by Poder Democrático Social (Podemos), a loosely affiliated grouping largely comprised of former members of Bolivia's discredited traditional political parties, and the Unidad Nacional (UN), the political vehicle of a cement magnate, Samuel Doria Medina. A second opposition front is comprised of four eastern departments (Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando) that have solidly opposed the radical socialist agenda of Mr Morales and the ruling MAS party. Yet both factions have roundly failed to derail the government's plans or force it towards a more consensual form of governing.

Both opposition fronts have been fragmented and demoralised by the durability of Mr Morales's strong popularity—his approval ratings have rarely dipped below 50% and recent polls show that 45-50% of voters intend to vote for him—and by their inability to stop the adoption of a new constitution or have the president's mandate revoked in national ballots.

More:
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14396149&fsrc=rss

[BolivarianHero]

1. It only takes 40% to win in Bolivia...

And even with sizable number of undecideds and even with the pro-bourgeois bias of most polling firms, the little coca farmer that could has support well above those numbers. Hopefully he will be able to secure a stronger mandate so that the elites and reactionaries who run the oil and natural gas industries will go the way of Cheney's friends at Bechtel and their failed attempts to force obscenely priced privatized water down the throats of the world's poorest.

[Peace Patriot]

2. The Economist is in despair cuz nobody can beat Morales...

Right away with the corpo/fascist spin...

"Over the past four years the opposition inside Congress has been headed by Poder Democrático Social (Podemos), a loosely affiliated grouping largely comprised of former members of Bolivia's discredited traditional political parties, and the Unidad Nacional (UN), the political vehicle of a cement magnate, Samuel Doria Medina. A second opposition front is comprised of four eastern departments (Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando) that have solidly opposed the radical socialist agenda of Mr Morales and the ruling MAS party. Yet both factions have roundly failed to derail the government's plans or force it towards a more consensual form of governing."

"Consensual," of course, means that the fascists win. Neither the fascists there, nor the fascists here, do "consensual." "Consensual" here means Bush Jr. and pals killing hundreds of thousands of people to steal their oil, torturing prisoners and looting everything in sight. "Consensual" to the rightwing in Bolivia is killing, torturing and excluding indians and looting everything in sight. The Economist calls the majority indigenous population's desire not to have this happen "the radical socialist agenda of Mr. Morales." Really, educating indians, providing small pensions for the dirt poor indian elderly, and using Bolivia's gas profits--which Morales has managed to double--for the these and similar benefits to, and bootstrapping of, Bolivians, is "radical," and must be stopped, but the Economist feels a bit depressed on that score.

The rest of the article is about the "great white hopes" of the opposition, and how Morales' party will use "planned investments and handouts," and "gerrymandering and registration fraud," to rig the election, and, if that doesn't work the Economist suggests that they will miscount the votes which "could spark violence and raise doubts about the government's legitimacy."

They don't even bother to spin this part. It's straight-up rightwing propaganda.

I will henceforward refer to them as the Econofist (Bushwhack "shock and awe" economics).

Oh, and they don't mention that Bolivia landed on its feet, after the Bushwhack Financial 9/11, due to excellent management of the economy by the Morales government. Low debt. Low "first world" (ponzi scheme) bank involvement. Rejection of US "neo-liberalism" ("free trade for the rich"). Smart re-negotiation of the gas contracts. And many forward-looking development projects (a port on the Pacific, granted by Chile, ending a long dispute; lithium development (France); a new highway from Brazils's Atlantic coast, to the Pacific, through Bolivia--which will make Bolivia a major trade route--funded by Brazil and Venezuela, and so on).

The Econofist makes Morales' popularity sound diabolical--like, how DARE Morales do so many great things for Bolivia, and be popular and get votes?! Surely these people would rather have a George Bush clone as president!