Bolivia: A Venezuela Repeat?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Bolivia | Evo Morales | Flawed Leadership | Foreign Affairs — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
People familiar with the state of affairs in Latin America know that Bolivia's Evo Morales is as objectionable in his policy preferences and manner of governance as is Hugo Chavez. Which makes this news very interesting indeed:
Bolivian President Evo Morales called on Wednesday for a nationwide referendum to decide whether he should stay in the job as a way to resolve a deepening political crisis in the country.
The leftist leader's plans to overhaul Bolivia's constitution have reignited long-running conflicts between more indigenous Andean regions, where Mr Morales has his support base, and wealthier lowland areas.
In an apparent bid to draw a line under the conflict, Mr Morales proposed a referendum to decide whether he and nine regional governors should remain in their posts. Six of the country's nine regions are controlled by his opponents.
"If the people say 'Evo's going', I've got no problem. I'm democratic," the former coca farmer said in a televised speech. "The people will say who's going and who's staying to guarantee this process of change."
He said he would send a bill to congress on Thursday to call the referendum vote.
It really wouldn't be too much to hope that Morales suffers the same fate with his referendum vote that Chavez did just recently. Would it? After all, it would serve Morales right.