Ciao!

I agree with your basic idea - however, many of his voting majority of farmers and miners of the bolivian altiplanos, I believe, would think he is turning his back on the people who voted him in. They would think he is becoming a token representative of their 'cause'. It's an interesting delemma - an editorial in our newspaper commented on his Walmart style of dress. Would this be something like President Andrew Jackson? What about Ghandi who took to wearing the simple cotton clothing of India?

Great postings Miguel, I've read the 3 parts of your thoughts on Evo. I'll post today at my blog what I think about Evo's attire (in spanish), all I can say is that he should wear suit & tie or a traditional (indian origin) protocolar suit for his and for Bolivia's sake.

I do agree that the role of a statesman has something to do with attire—however the attire is less important than the message of the person and their views. And in many cases the attire serves as an important part of the message-i.e. the attire serves the statesman, the statesman never serves the attire.

As another poster noticed Ghandi always wore sandals and Hindi robes, no matter what world leader he was meeting with. Even though Ghandi's early career as an attorney and his education in England was filled of him wearing the suit and tie.

Nelson Mandela has made the African shirt his trademark attire, while not the sole item of clothing in his wardrobe--he has also made significant symbolic use of traditional African dress.

The House of Saud, despite having enormous wealth and over 50 years of close connections with the West have made only partial concessions to Western dress. Crown Prince Abdullah always wears his sheikh robes and turban, how strange would people think it if this Saudi Arabian king were to suddenly wear a suit and tie next time George Bush came by?

Hamid Karzai appears everywhere in his karakul hat and his robes. Again, it's not as if Karzai is unfamiliar with the suit and tie--he has plenty of them from his days at Unocal.

And of course, Fidel--who goes everywhere dressed in his combat fatigues, as if he just stepped out of the Sierra Maestra mountains.

The point is all of these charismatic leaders have made their attire an important part of their message. By not wearing the suit and tie of the West, all of these non-Western leaders have tried to show that their ties are to their people, not the Suit and Tie Club of World Leaders.

It is this symbolism of standing apart that has made these leaders recognizable on the world stage, for their successes, their policies, or simply their infamy.

No one would ever mistake Castro’s fatigues as anything but—and the symbolism of Cuba’s leader wearing military attire in the face of an openly hostile US is pretty obvious.

Ghandi’s use of attire worn by the poorer people of India and his lifestyle of weaving and vegetarianism showed to the world that he identified with the poorest of the poor in his country—not the colonial elites the British would have preferred to deal with in India. How much more difficult would have been India’s struggle for independence if Ghandi had adopted the ascot and top hat? His power to unite the Indian people would have been greatly weakened and in all likelihood no one would remember him—he would just be another leader instead of an icon.

Obviously, I’m not comparing Evo to Ghandi—except perhaps in his dress. His alpaca sweater wearing and more casual attire has clearly identified him as the leader of a specific country; no one could ever confuse him with some businessman. So I feel his dress is appropriate, so long as he is attempting to show a message of Bolivian identity and not business standardization.

Patrick:

For the record, I've no problem (in principle) w/ a statesman making some unconventional wardrobe choices to make a statement. But it'd be one thing if Evo was wearing some sort of "fancy" indigenous (or blended indigenous-European) clothing, rather than just wearing the same sweater as he travels across continents. He doesn't have to wear a suit (though I don't think it's a bad idea), but he should look like a dignitary, a head of state, not a taxi driver. Sorry if that sounds stodgy, but it's just my opinion. Plenty of world leaders from the third world wear "business" attire, even if they throw some "ethnic" flair into the mix. It's not just a sign of new-found wealth, it's a sign of respect for the office, and respect for the diplomats he'll be negotiating across tables w/.

And, for the record, if a president-elect is going to spend govt money to have EVERY SINGLE piece of "state jewelry" he legally qualifies made for him, and is going to move into the presidential palace, he can wear a suit & tie. If he really wanted to make a statement, he'd work w/o a salary (as Goni did) & move inot a less ostentatious residency (or stay at his current residence, as Mesa did). His not wearing a suit is meant for cameras, as a sign that he's a "simple" person, when people in the know in Bolivia will tell you he has a very nice houses, cars, and isn't one of the Bolivians living on $2/day -- he just wants the Times & Post set to think he is.

Good points. Evo would hardly qualify as a man of the people if he has a lot of state jewerly made for him. Since there's a budget crisis going on, he would probably do well to just get rid of the jewerly altogether (it smells too much like nobility for my blood) and simply have pieces of paper (nice paper tho) to signify these various awards.

And Evo could be just pretending to act as a man of the people. From watching his political campaign, it appears that the symbolism of the "people" it very important to him--so this casual attire could be his way of trying to keep that image.

Also, if someone (Evo or another) were to adopt a more ethinically-inspired and yet dressy wardrobe to represent Boliva, what would that look like? Is there a particular item that a Bolivan leader could incorporate into a more formal attire? Probably a minor concern, considering all that's going on--but as you know politics is all about perception.

There have been numerous legislators (as well as municipal councilmembers) who've worn some sort of "ethnic" clothing either w/ or instead of the more standard European business dress. An option I'd like, would be to wear a small, elegant poncho over a standard suit. But there's lots of ways to be creative, if he wants to spend time & actually come up w/ such an outfit. The bottom line is that he should (for the good of his country) "presidential".