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Evo presidente

01.22.2006

Technorati tag: Bolivia

I've not been posting about the hoopla surrounding this weekend's inauguration of Evo Morales as president of Bolivia. The inauguration was one of the most unique (it included the first ever ceremony of its kind in the archaeological site at Tiwanaku) and most expensive ($1.5 million) in recent Bolivian history. But Barrio Flores, MABB, and others (see Global Voices) have done an outstanding job w/ interesting blog coverage. The international media was all over it, and I'm sure you heard various things on NPR or the BBC.

I wish Evo (and Bolivia) well, though I'll readily admit I'm skeptical. Evo's rambling two-hour off-the-cuff speech didn't help much. Nor the fact that his first ever public speech in indigenous language was handed to him in text, rather than natural and free-flowing (as his Spanish speeches). Nevertheless, he's not nearly as crazy as some think, nor as inspirational as others hope. We'll see what the next months/years bring.

(BTW, I don't continue to refer to him as "Evo" out of disrespect or out of personal admiration. I've deliberately adopted an informal tone for all posts. I tend to refer to various political or public figures by nicknames or shorthand.)

Anyhow, the week ahead will be Evo's first as official head of state. He's sure to make some cabinet announcements soon. Though we already know he's eliminating the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. He's also creating a new Ministry of Sport (w/ an eye to the 2008 Olympics). The rest of this month & most of the next will be his honeymoon period. I'm going to wait & see.

Meanwhile, I'll be starting my dissertation's chapter on the 1985, 1989, and 1993 Bolivian elections, while polishing up an overview of 1982-2006 Bolivian politics.

Posted by Miguel at 11:06 PM

Comments

Posted by: mike d at January 22, 2006 11:37 PM