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133-504: Cerro Rico (Spanish for "Rich Mountain"), Cerro Potosí ("Potosí Mountain") or Sumaq Urqu ( Quechua sumaq "beautiful, good, pleasant", urqu "mountain", "beautiful (good or pleasant) mountain"), is a mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potosí . Cerro Rico, which is popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore, is famous for providing vast quantities of silver for

266-681: A mixed economy , reduced its dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and oversaw strong economic growth. Scaling back United States influence in the country, he built relationships with leftist governments in the Latin American pink tide , especially Hugo Chávez 's Venezuela and Fidel Castro 's Cuba, and signed Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas . His administration opposed

399-519: A protest party , relying largely on widespread dissatisfaction with the existing mainstream political parties among Bolivians living in rural and poor urban areas. Morales recognized this, and much of his discourse focused on differentiating the MAS from the traditional political class. Their campaign was successful, and in the 2002 presidential election the MAS gained 20.94% of the national vote, becoming Bolivia's second largest party, being only 1.5% behind

532-508: A race war . He traveled to Cuba to spend time with Castro, before going to Venezuela, and then on tour to Europe, China, and South Africa; significantly, he avoided the U.S. In January 2006, Morales attended an indigenous spiritual ceremony at Tiwanaku where he was crowned Apu Mallku ( Supreme Leader ) of the Aymara, receiving gifts from indigenous peoples across Latin America and thanking

665-672: A socialist , he has led the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party since 1998. Born to an Aymara family of subsistence farmers in Isallawi , Orinoca Canton , Morales undertook a basic education and mandatory military service before moving to the Chapare Province in 1978. Growing coca and becoming a trade unionist, he rose to prominence in the campesino ("rural laborers") union. In that capacity, he campaigned against joint U.S.–Bolivian attempts to eradicate coca as part of

798-494: A "foundational event in his relationship with politics" occurred in 1981, when a campesino (coca grower) was accused of cocaine trafficking by soldiers, beaten up, and burned to death. In 1982 the leftist Hernán Siles Zuazo and the Democratic and Popular Union ( Unidad Democrática y Popular – UDP) took power in representative democratic elections, before implementing neoliberal capitalist reforms and privatizing much of

931-590: A drug trafficker. I am a coca grower. I cultivate coca leaf, which is a natural product. I do not refine (it into) cocaine, and neither cocaine nor drugs have ever been part of the Andean culture". Morales has stated that "We produce our coca, we bring it to the main markets, we sell it and that's where our responsibility ends". Morales presented the coca growers as victims of a wealthy, urban social elite who had bowed to United States pressure by implementing neoliberal economic reforms. He argued that these reforms were to

1064-564: A form of Quechua, which in the Cuzco region particularly has been heavily influenced by Aymara , hence some of the characteristics that still distinguish the Cuzco form of Quechua today. Diverse Quechua regional dialects and languages had already developed in different areas, influenced by local languages, before the Inca Empire expanded and further promoted Quechua as the official language of

1197-403: A form of U.S. imperialism. A major dilemma faced by Morales' administration was between the desire to expand extractive industries in order to fund social programs and provide employment, and to protect the country's environment from the pollution caused by those industries. Although his government professed an environmentalist ethos, expanding environmental monitoring and becoming a leader in

1330-1048: A fourth, a northern or Peruvian branch. The latter causes complications in the classification, however, as various dialects (e.g. Cajamarca–Cañaris , Pacaraos , and Yauyos ) have features of both Quechua I and Quechua II, and so are difficult to assign to either. Torero classifies them as the following: Willem Adelaar adheres to the Quechua I / Quechua II (central/peripheral) bifurcation. But, partially following later modifications by Torero, he reassigns part of Quechua II-A to Quechua I: Ancash (Huaylas–Conchucos) Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Yaru Wanka (Jauja–Huanca) Yauyos–Chincha (Huangáscar–Topará) Pacaraos Lambayeque (Cañaris) Cajamarca Lincha Laraos Kichwa ("Ecuadorian" or Highlands and Oriente) Chachapoyas (Amazonas) Lamas (San Martín) Ayacucho Cusco Puno (Collao) Northern Bolivian (Apolo) Southern Bolivia Santiago del Estero Landerman (1991) does not believe

1463-537: A historic moment that symbolized the founding of a new nation. Just a year later, congress decided to change the colors to yellow-red-green and include a coat of arms featuring the iconic condor, alpaca and Cerro Rico mine. The Cerro Rico de Potosí was the richest source of silver in the history of mankind. The extraction of mineral ores in Cerro Rico de Potosí began in 1545 by the Spanish Empire . Between

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1596-596: A homemade soccer ball to amuse himself. As a toddler, he briefly attended Orinoca's preparatory school, and at five began schooling at the single-room primary school in Isallawi. Aged 6, he spent six months in northern Argentina with his sister and father. There, Dionisio harvested sugar cane while Evo sold ice cream and briefly attended a Spanish-language school. As a child, he regularly traveled on foot to Arani province in Cochabamba with his father and their llamas,

1729-545: A journey lasting up to two weeks, in order to exchange salt and potatoes for maize and coca. A big fan of soccer, at age 13 he organized a community soccer team with himself as team captain. Within two years, he was elected training coach for the whole region, and thus gained early experience in leadership. After finishing primary education, Morales attended the Agrarian Humanistic Technical Institute of Orinoca (ITAHO), completing all but

1862-520: A law was introduced permitting the formation of recognized indigenous territories, although the implementation of this was hampered by bureaucracy and contesting claims over ownership. Morales' government also sought to improve women's rights in Bolivia. In 2010, it founded a Unit of Depatriarchalization to oversee this process. Further seeking to provide legal recognition and support to LGBT rights , it declared 28 June to be Sexual Minority Rights Day in

1995-576: A living growing coca, which was experiencing a steady rise in price and which could be cultivated up to four times a year; a traditional medicinal and ritual substance in Andean culture, it was also sold abroad as the key ingredient in cocaine . Morales joined the local soccer team, before founding his own team, New Horizon, which proved victorious at the 2 August Central Tournament. The El Chapare region remained special to Morales for many years to come; during his presidency he often talked of it in speeches and regularly visited. In El Chapare, Morales joined

2128-622: A living. "You have to be crazy to work in the mines, with the conditions. But there are no other alternatives." Cerro Rico de Potosí was accidentally discovered in 1545 by Diego de Huallpa, a Quechua silver miner for the Spanish, while he was searching the mountain for an Inca shrine or traditional burial offering. The red mountain, now known as Cerro Rico, sits between the Porco and Sucre mines, which had previously been discovered, being at lower altitudes and therefore easier to mine. Once Cerro Rico

2261-425: A number of his comrades were tortured, although no evidence of a coup was brought forth and he was freed within a week. He proceeded to Argentina to attend a seminar on liberation struggles. Members of the sindicato social movement first suggested a move into the political arena in 1986. This was controversial, with many fearing that politicians would co-opt the movement for personal gain. Morales began supporting

2394-466: A policy of " shock therapy ", implementing economic liberalization and widescale privatization of state-owned assets. Sánchez also agreed with the U.S. DEA to relaunch its offensive against the Bolivian coca growers, committing Bolivia to eradicating 12,500 acres (5,100 ha) of coca by March 1994 in exchange for US$ 20 million worth of United States aid, something Morales stated would be opposed by

2527-463: A presidential decree to create the Ministry of Institutional Transparency and Fight Against Corruption. Critics said that MAS members were rarely prosecuted for the crime, the main exception being YPFB head Santos Ramírez , who was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment for corruption in 2008. A 2009 law that permitted the retroactive prosecution for corruption led to legal cases being brought against

2660-775: A profession. Morales served his mandatory military service in the Bolivian Army from 1977 to 1978. Initially signed up at the Centre for Instruction of Special Troops (CITE) in Cochabamba, he was sent into the Fourth Ingavi Cavalry Regiment and stationed at the army headquarters in the Bolivian capital La Paz . These two years were one of Bolivia's politically most unstable periods, with five presidents and two military coups, led by General Juan Pereda and General David Padilla respectively; under

2793-547: A reference point, the overall degree of diversity across the family is a little less than that of the Romance or Germanic families, and more of the order of Slavic or Arabic . The greatest diversity is within Central Quechua, or Quechua I, which is believed to lie close to the homeland of the ancestral Proto-Quechua language. Alfredo Torero devised the traditional classification, the three divisions above, plus

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2926-494: A revolutionary comrade. In April 2007 he attended the first South American Energy Summit in Venezuela, arguing with many allies over the issue of biofuel , which he opposed. He had a particularly fierce argument with Brazilian President Lula over Morales' desire to bring Bolivia's refineries – which were largely owned by Brazil's Petrobrás – under state control. In May, Bolivia purchased the refineries and transferred them to

3059-511: A romantic relationship between the two. MAS' primary opponent was Jorge Quiroga and his center-right Social and Democratic Power , whose campaign was centered in Santa Cruz and which advocated continued neo-liberal reform; Quiroga accused Morales of promoting the legalization of cocaine and being a puppet for Venezuela. With a turnout of 84.5%, the election saw Morales gain 53.7% of the vote, while Quiroga came second with 28.6%; Morales'

3192-535: A significant influence on other native languages of the Americas, such as Mapuche . It is difficult to measure the number of Quechua speakers. The number of speakers given varies widely according to the sources. The total in Ethnologue 16 is 10 million, primarily based on figures published 1987–2002, but with a few dating from the 1960s. The figure for Imbabura Highland Quechua in Ethnologue , for example,

3325-401: A speech that included a minute silence in memory of cocaleros and indigenous activists killed in the struggle. He condemned Bolivia's former "colonial" regimes, likening them to South Africa under apartheid and stating that the MAS' election would lead to a "refoundation" of the country, a term that the MAS consistently used over "revolution". Morales repeated these views in his convocation of

3458-589: A time when around 62% of the population identified as indigenous; political analysts therefore drew comparisons with the election of Nelson Mandela to the South African Presidency in 1994 . This resulted in widespread excitement among the indigenous people in the Americas, particularly those of Bolivia. His election caused concern among the country's wealthy and landowning classes, who feared state expropriation and nationalisation of their property, as well as far-right groups, who said it would spark

3591-473: A trade union of cocaleros (coca growers), being appointed local Secretary of Sports. Organizing soccer tournaments, among union members he earned the nickname of "the young ball player" because of his tendency to organize matches during meeting recesses. Influenced in joining the union by wider events, in 1980 the far-right General Luis García Meza had seized power in a military coup, banning other political parties and declaring himself president; for Morales,

3724-599: A true genetic classification is possible and divides Quechua II so that the family has four geographical–typological branches: Northern, North Peruvian, Central, and Southern. He includes Chachapoyas and Lamas in North Peruvian Quechua so Ecuadorian is synonymous with Northern Quechua. Quechua I (Central Quechua, Waywash ) is spoken in Peru's central highlands, from the Ancash Region to Huancayo . It

3857-459: Is 300,000, an estimate from 1977. The missionary organization FEDEPI, on the other hand, estimated one million Imbabura dialect speakers (published 2006). Census figures are also problematic, due to under-reporting. The 2001 Ecuador census reports only 500,000 Quechua speakers, compared to the estimate in most linguistic sources of more than 2 million. The censuses of Peru (2007) and Bolivia (2001) are thought to be more reliable. Additionally, there

3990-653: Is a secondary division in Quechua II between the grammatically simplified northern varieties of Ecuador, Quechua II-B, known there as Kichwa , and the generally more conservative varieties of the southern highlands, Quechua II-C, which include the old Inca capital of Cusco . The closeness is at least in part because of the influence of Cusco Quechua on the Ecuadorean varieties in the Inca Empire. Because Northern nobles were required to educate their children in Cusco, this

4123-455: Is an unknown number of speakers in emigrant communities. There are significant differences among the varieties of Quechua spoken in the central Peruvian highlands and the peripheral varieties of Ecuador, as well as those of southern Peru and Bolivia. They can be labeled Quechua I (or Quechua B, central) and Quechua II (or Quechua A, peripheral). Within the two groups, there are few sharp boundaries, making them dialect continua . However, there

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4256-525: Is distributed by certain missionary groups. Quechua, along with Aymara and minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a spoken language . In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in intercultural bilingual education (IBE) in Peru , Bolivia , and Ecuador . Even in these areas, the governments are reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking populations. Some indigenous people in each of

4389-642: Is located in the south of the country in Potosí Department . Quechuan languages Although Quechua began expanding many centuries before the Incas , that previous expansion also meant that it was the primary language family within the Inca Empire. The Spanish also tolerated its use until the Peruvian struggle for independence in the 1780s. As a result, various Quechua languages are still widely spoken today, being co-official in many regions and

4522-418: Is still a significant contributor to the city's economy, employing some 15,000 miners. As a result of centuries long mining, in 2011 a sinkhole in the top appeared and had to be filled with ultra-light cement. The summit also continues to sink a few centimetres every year. In 2014, UNESCO added Cerro Rico and Potosí to its list of endangered sites, owing to "uncontrolled mining operations" that risk "degrading

4655-471: Is the most diverse branch of Quechua, to the extent that its divisions are commonly considered different languages. Quechua II (Peripheral Quechua, Wamp'una "Traveler") This is a sampling of words in several Quechuan languages: Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma ( Spanish pronunciation: [xwan ˈeβo moˈɾales ˈajma] ; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as

4788-543: The Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights . Morales proceeded straight to Havana for a conference celebrating Castro's life, where he gave a speech arguing for stronger links between Latin America and the Middle East to combat U.S. imperialism. Under his administration, diplomatic relations were established with Iran, with Morales praising Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as

4921-575: The Bolivian State Petroleum Company (YPFB). Morales' government sought to encourage a model of development based upon the premise of vivir bien , or "to live well". This entailed seeking social harmony, consensus, the elimination of discrimination, and wealth redistribution; in doing so, it was rooted in communal rather than individual values and owed more to indigenous Andean forms of social organization than Western ones. Upon Morales' election, Bolivia's illiteracy rate

5054-554: The Cochabamba Water War and gas conflict . In 2002, he was expelled from Congress for encouraging anti-government protesters, although he came second in that year's presidential election . Once elected president in 2005 , Morales increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to bolster social spending and emphasized projects to combat illiteracy, poverty, and racial and gender discrimination. Vocally criticizing neoliberalism , Morales' government moved Bolivia towards

5187-488: The Spanish Empire , most of which was shipped to metropolitan Spain. It is estimated that eighty-five percent of the silver produced in the central Andes during this time came from Cerro Rico. As a result of mining operations in the mountain, the city of Potosí became one of the largest cities in the New World . It is said that revolutionary hero Simon Bolívar once waved a flag from the top of this monumental mountain in

5320-578: The War on Drugs , denouncing these as an imperialist violation of indigenous Andean culture. His involvement in anti-government direct action protests resulted in multiple arrests. Morales entered electoral politics in 1995, was elected to Congress in 1997 and became leader of MAS in 1998. Coupled with populist rhetoric, he campaigned on issues affecting indigenous and poor communities, advocating land reform and more equal redistribution of money from Bolivian gas extraction. He gained increased visibility through

5453-486: The War on Drugs , the United States government hoped to stem the cocaine trade by preventing the production of coca; they pressured the Bolivian government to eradicate it, sending troops to Bolivia to aid the operation. Bolivian troops would burn coca crops and, in many cases, beat up coca growers who challenged them. Angered by this, Morales returned to cocalero campaigning; like many of his comrades, he refused

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5586-407: The boliviano . Morales' first year in office ended with no fiscal deficit , which was the first time this had happened in Bolivia for 30 years. During the global financial crisis of 2007–08 Bolivia maintained one of the world's highest levels of economic growth. Such economic strength led to a nationwide boom in construction, and allowed the state to build up strong financial reserves. Although

5719-508: The placenta produced after his birth in a place specially chosen for the occasion. His childhood home was a traditional adobe house, and he grew up speaking the Aymara language , although later commentators would remark that by the time he had become president he was no longer an entirely fluent speaker. Morales' family were farmers; from an early age, he helped them to plant and harvest crops and guard their herd of llamas and sheep, taking

5852-441: The 16th and 18th century, 80% of the world's silver supply came out of this mine. After centuries of extractive mining methods that severely damaged the local ecology the mountain continues to be mined for silver to this day. Due to poor worker conditions, such as a lack of protective equipment against the constant inhalation of dust, many of the miners contract silicosis . They have a life expectancy of around 40 years. The mountain

5985-560: The 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. Gradually its use declined so that it was spoken mostly by indigenous people in the more isolated and conservative rural areas. Nevertheless, in the 21st century, Quechua language speakers number roughly 7 million people across South America, more than any other indigenous language family in the Americas. As a result of Inca expansion into Central Chile , there were bilingual Quechua- Mapudungu Mapuche in Central Chile at

6118-414: The 2010 Law against Racism and Discrimination banning the espousal of racist views in private or public institutions. Various commentators noted that there was a renewed sense of pride among the country's indigenous population following Morales' election. Conversely, the opposition accused Morales' administration of aggravating racial tensions between indigenous, white, and mestizo populations, and of using

6251-469: The 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come from its indigenous population , his administration worked towards the implementation of left-wing policies, focusing on the legal protections and socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's previously marginalized indigenous population and combating the political influence of the United States and resource-extracting multinational corporations . Ideologically

6384-582: The ASP, citing minor procedural infringements. The coca activists circumvented this problem by running under the banner of the United Left (IU), a coalition of leftist parties headed by the Communist Party of Bolivia ( Partido Comunista Boliviano – PCB). They won landslide victories in those areas which were local strongholds of the movement, producing 11 mayors and 49 municipal councilors. Morales

6517-471: The Andean High Plateau, a cocalero group launched a guerrilla uprising under the leadership of Felipe Quispe ; an ethnic separatist, he and Morales disliked each other, with Quispe considering Morales to be a traitor and an opportunist for his willingness to cooperate with White Bolivians . Morales had not taken a leading role in these protests but did use them to get across his message that

6650-473: The Andean regions was eventually preferred by the Spanish Crown, as opposed to African slave labor, due to high mortality and low productivity rates. By 1565, Cerro Rico had run out of high-grade silver ores. Extraction began anew after the introduction of a silver extraction method known as patio process , using mercury to form silver amalgams and extract silver from low-grade ores. Repartimiento

6783-753: The Bolivian left. In June 2006, Morales announced his plan to nationalize mining, electricity, telephones, and railroads. In February 2007, the government nationalized the Vinto metallurgy plant and refused to compensate Glencore , which the government said had obtained the contract illegally. Although the FSTMB miners' federation called for the government to nationalize the mines, the government did not do so, instead stating that any transnational corporations operating in Bolivia legally would not be expropriated. Under Morales, Bolivia experienced unprecedented economic strength, resulting in an increase in value of its currency,

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6916-553: The Constituent Assembly. In taking office, Morales emphasized nationalism, anti-imperialism, and anti-neoliberalism, although did not initially refer to his administration as socialist. He immediately reduced both his own presidential wage and that of his ministers by 57% to $ 1,875 a month, also urging members of Congress to do the same. Morales gathered together a largely inexperienced cabinet made up of indigenous activists and leftist intellectuals, although over

7049-592: The Empire. After the Spanish conquest of Peru in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely by the indigenous peoples as the "common language." It was officially recognized by the Spanish administration, and many Spaniards learned it in order to communicate with local peoples. The clergy of the Catholic Church adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization . The oldest written records of

7182-455: The IPSP, leaving the ASP to crumble and Véliz to join the center-right New Republican Force ( Nueva Fuerza Republicana – NFR), for which Morales denounced him as a traitor to the cocalero cause. Continuing his activism, in 1998 Morales led another cocalero march from El Chapare to la Paz, and came under increasing criticism from the government, who repeatedly accused him of being involved in

7315-543: The MAS and IPSP merged, becoming known as the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples . The MAS would come to be described as "an indigenous-based political party that calls for the nationalization of industry, legalization of the coca leaf ... and fairer distribution of national resources." The party lacked the finance available to the mainstream parties, and so relied largely on

7448-451: The MAS was not a single-issue party, and that rather than simply fighting for the rights of the cocalero it was arguing for structural change to the political system and a redefinition of citizenship in Bolivia. In August 2001, Banzer resigned due to terminal illness, and Jorge Quiroga took over as president. Under U.S. pressure, Quiroga sought to have Morales expelled from Congress by saying that Morales' inflammatory language had caused

7581-685: The Peoples ( Asamblea por la Sobernía de los Pueblos – ASP). At the ASP's 1st Congress, the CSUTCB participated alongside three other Bolivian unions, representing miners, peasants and indigenous peoples. In 1996, Morales was appointed chairman of the Committee of the Six Federations of the Tropics of Cochabamba, a position that he retained until 2006. Bolivia's National Electoral Court ( Corte Nacional Electoral – CNE) refused to recognize

7714-513: The Racism and Discrimination law to attack freedom of the press. On International Workers' Day 2006, Morales issued a presidential decree undoing aspects of the informalization of labor which had been implemented by previous neoliberal governments; this was seen as a highly symbolic act for labor rights in Bolivia. In 2009 his government put forward suggested reforms to the 1939 labor laws, although lengthy discussions with trade unions hampered

7847-615: The U.S. for the first time to attend the UN General Assembly , where he gave a speech condemning U.S. President George W. Bush as a terrorist for launching the War in Afghanistan and Iraq War and called for the UN Headquarters to be moved out of the country. In the U.S., he met with former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and with Native American groups . Relations were further strained between

7980-459: The US$ 2,500 compensation offered by the government for each acre of coca he eradicated. Deeply embedded in Bolivian culture, the campesinos had an ancestral relationship with coca and did not want to lose their most profitable means of subsistence. For them, it was an issue of national sovereignty, with the United States viewed as imperialists ; activists regularly proclaimed "Long live coca! Death to

8113-596: The Yankees!" (" Causachun coca! Wañuchun yanquis! "). From 1984 to 1985, Morales served as Secretary of Records for the movement, and in 1985 he became General Secretary of the August Second Headquarters. From 1984 to 1991, the sindicatos embarked on a series of protests against the forced eradication of coca by occupying local government offices, setting up roadblocks, going on hunger strike, and organizing mass marches and demonstrations. Morales

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8246-578: The autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces , won a 2008 recall referendum , and instituted a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state . Re-elected in 2009 and 2014 , he oversaw Bolivia's admission to the Bank of the South and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , although his popularity was dented by attempts to abolish presidential term limits . Following

8379-421: The coca leaf as a symbol of Andean culture that was under threat from the imperialist oppression of the United States. In his view, the United States should deal with their domestic cocaine abuse problems without interfering in Bolivia, arguing that they had no right trying to eliminate coca, a legitimate product with many uses which played a rich role in Andean culture. In a speech, Morales told reporters "I am not

8512-554: The cocaine trade and mocked him for how he spoke and his lack of education. Morales came to an agreement with David Añez Pedraza , the leader of a defunct yet still registered falangist party named the Movement for Socialism (MAS); under this agreement, Morales and the Six Federaciónes could take over the party name, with Pendraza stipulating the condition that they must maintain MAS's own acronym, name and colors. Thus,

8645-421: The cocalero movement. In August 1994, Morales was arrested; reporters present at the scene witnessed him being beaten and accosted with racial slurs by civil agents. Accused of sedition, in jail he began a dry hunger strike to protest his arrest. The following day, 3000 campesinos began a 360 mi (580 km) march from Villa Tunari to La Paz . Morales would be freed on 7 September 1994, and soon joined

8778-407: The contract from Tunari and placed the utility under cooperative control. In ensuing years further violent protests broke out over a range of issues, resulting in more deaths both among activists and law enforcement. Much of this unrest was connected with the widespread opposition to economic liberalization across Bolivian society, with a common perception that it only benefited a small minority. In

8911-637: The countries are having their children study in Spanish for social advancement. Radio Nacional del Perú broadcasts news and agrarian programs in Quechua for periods in the mornings. Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed in much of the Andean region, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua. Similarly, Quechua phrases and words are commonly used by Spanish speakers. In southern rural Bolivia, for instance, many Quechua words such as wawa (infant), misi (cat), waska (strap or thrashing), are as commonly used as their Spanish counterparts, even in entirely Spanish-speaking areas. Quechua has also had

9044-467: The country's previous liberal economic model. Bolivia's economy was based largely on the extraction of natural resources , with the nation having South America's second largest reserves of natural gas. Keeping to his election pledge, Morales took increasing state control of the hydrocarbon industry with Supreme Decree 2870; previously, corporations paid 18% of their profits to the state, but Morales symbolically reversed this, so that 82% of profits went to

9177-405: The country, and encouraged the establishment of a gay-themed television show on the state channel. Adopting a policy known as "Coca Yes, Cocaine No", Morales' administration ensured the legality of coca growing, and introduced measures to regulate the production and trade of the crop. In 2007, they announced that they would permit the growing of 50,000 acres of coca in the country, primarily for

9310-449: The current output of the mines was predominantly tin and zinc by then and only small amounts of silver. One report estimates that a full 88% of the miners in Bolivia, roughly 8,000 to 10,000 (depending on the source making the estimate), including children, were working for the cooperatives. A former miner discussed the great risks of working at Cerro Rico with a reporter, but said that those working there had few other alternatives for earning

9443-455: The deaths of two police officers in Sacaba near Cochabamba. He was unable to provide any evidence of Morales' culpability. 140 deputies voted for Morales' expulsion, which came about in 2002. Morales said that it "was a trial against Aymara and Quechas". MAS activists interpreted it as evidence of the pseudo-democratic credentials of the political class. The MAS gained increasing popularity as

9576-418: The detriment of Bolivia's majority, and thus the country's representative democratic system of governance failed to reflect the true democratic will of the majority. This situation was exacerbated following the 1993 general election when the centrist Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario – MNR) won the election and Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada became president. He adopted

9709-417: The development of indigenous cultural projects, and sought to encourage more indigenous people to attend university; by 2008, it was estimated that half of the students enrolled in Bolivia's 11 public universities were indigenous, while three indigenous-specific universities had been established, offering subsidized education. In 2009, a Vice Ministry for Decolonization was established, which proceeded to pass

9842-734: The development of its medical care, opening ophthalmological centers in the country to treat 100,000 Bolivians for free per year, and offering 5,000 free scholarships for Bolivian students to study medicine in Cuba. The government sought to expand state medical facilities, opening twenty hospitals by 2014, and increasing basic medical coverage up to the age of 25. Their approach sought to utilize and harmonize both mainstream Western medicine and Bolivia's traditional medicine . The 2006 Bono Juancito Pinto program provided US$ 29 per year to parents who kept their children in public school with an attendance rate above 80%. 2008's Renta Dignidad initiative expanded

9975-460: The dialects is the basic criterion that defines Quechua not as a single language, but as a language family. The complex and progressive nature of how speech varies across the dialect continua makes it nearly impossible to differentiate discrete varieties; Ethnologue lists 45 varieties which are then divided into two groups; Central and Peripheral. Due to the non-intelligibility between the two groups, they are all classified as separate languages. As

10108-711: The disputed 2019 election and the ensuing unrest , Morales agreed to calls for his resignation . After this temporary exile, he returned following the election of President Luis Arce . Morales' supporters point to his championing of indigenous rights , anti-imperialism , and environmentalism , and credit him with overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. Critics point to democratic backsliding during his tenure, argue that his policies sometimes failed to reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric, and that his defence of coca contributed to illegal cocaine production. Morales

10241-562: The election of socialist president Evo Morales in 2006. After centuries of brutal Spanish extraction and forced labor, decades of foreign control and private investment in the late 20th century, and the failure of the state-run mining company COMIBOL led to the displacement of 25,000 miners following plummeting mineral prices in the 1990s, "informal, self-managed associations" began selling "unrefined product to private operators". FENCOMIN (National Federation of Mining Cooperatives in Bolivia)

10374-451: The election, the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia Manuel Rocha issued a statement declaring that U.S. aid to Bolivia would be cut if MAS won the election. However, exit polls revealed that Rocha's comments had served to increase support for Morales. (Ambassador Rocha was later arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice on criminal charges of being an agent for the Cuban government.) Following

10507-463: The election, the U.S. embassy characterised Morales as a criminal and encouraged Bolivia's traditional parties to sign a broad agreement to oppose the MAS; Morales himself began alleging that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was plotting to assassinate him. In 2003, the Bolivian gas conflict broke out as activists – including coca growers – protested against the privatization of the country's natural gas supply and its sale to U.S. companies below

10640-485: The family cleared a plot of land in the forest to grow rice, oranges, grapefruit, papaya, bananas and later on coca . It was here that Morales learned to speak Quechua , the indigenous local language. The arrival of the Morales family was a part of a much wider migration to the region; in 1981 El Chapare's population was 40,000 but by 1988 it had risen to 215,000. Many Bolivians hoped to set up farms where they could earn

10773-607: The final year. His parents then sent him to study for a degree in Oruro ; although he did poorly academically, he finished all of his courses and exams by 1977, earning money on the side as a brick-maker, day laborer, baker and a trumpet player for the Royal Imperial Band. The latter position allowed him to travel across Bolivia. At the end of his higher education, he failed to collect his degree certificate. Although interested in studying journalism, he did not pursue it as

10906-446: The firing of Morales' first Mining Minister, a member of FENCOMIN. Most recently in 2016, Bolivia's Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was tortured and killed, allegedly by Bolivian cooperative miners. This outburst of violence has led to clashes between cooperative miners and the police leaving five miners dead and severing a decade of strong ties between cooperative mining and the Morales government. Reports in 2019 indicate that

11039-500: The first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages. Ecuador conferred official status on the language in its 2006 constitution, and in 2009, Bolivia adopted a new constitution that recognized Quechua and several other indigenous languages as official languages of the country. The major obstacle to the usage and teaching of Quechua languages is the lack of written materials, such as books, newspapers, software, and magazines. The Bible has been translated into Quechua and

11172-517: The first thesis defense done in Quechua in Europe was done by Peruvian Carmen Escalante Gutiérrez at Pablo de Olavide University ( Sevilla ). The same year Pablo Landeo wrote the first novel in Quechua without a Spanish translation. A Peruvian student, Roxana Quispe Collantes of the University of San Marcos , completed and defended the first thesis in the language group in 2019; it concerned

11305-488: The first three years of government there was a rapid turnover in the cabinet as Morales replaced many of the indigenous members with trained middle-class leftist politicians. By 2012 only 3 of the 20 cabinet members identified as indigenous. At the time of Morales' election, Bolivia was South America's poorest nation. Morales' government did not initiate fundamental change to Bolivia's economic structure, and their National Development Plan (PDN) for 2006–10 adhered largely to

11438-537: The formation of a political wing in 1989, although a consensus in favor of its formation only emerged in 1993. On 27 March 1995, at the 7th Congress of the Unique Confederation of Rural Laborers of Bolivia ( Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia – CSUTCB), a "political instrument" (a term employed over "political party") was formed, named the Assembly for the Sovereignty of

11571-623: The goddess Pachamama for his victory. In the world there are large and small countries, rich countries and poor countries, but we are equal in one thing, which is our right to dignity and sovereignty. — Evo Morales, Inaugural Speech, 22 January 2006. Morales' inauguration took place on 22 January in La Paz. It was attended by various heads of state, including Argentina's Kirchner, Venezuela's Chávez, Brazil's Lula da Silva , and Chile's Ricardo Lagos . Morales wore an Andeanized suit designed by fashion designer Beatriz Canedo Patiño , and gave

11704-580: The growers of an international market. Campaigning against this, in 2012 Bolivia withdrew from the UN 1961 Convention which had called for global criminalisation of coca, and in 2013 successfully convinced the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to declassify coca as a narcotic. The U.S. State Department criticized Bolivia, saying that it was regressing in its counter-narcotics efforts, and dramatically reduced aid to Bolivia to $ 34 million to fight

11837-520: The industrialization of coca production, with Morales inaugurating the first coca industrialization plant in Chulumani , which produced and packaged coca and trimate tea; the project was primarily funded through a $ 125,000 donation from Venezuela under the PTA scheme. These industrialization measures proved largely unsuccessful given that coca remained illegal in most nations outside Bolivia, thus depriving

11970-645: The language are by missionary Domingo de Santo Tomás , who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Kingdoms of Peru) in 1560. Given its use by the Catholic missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas. In

12103-553: The large number of workers who died in the mines. The work of historians such as Peter Bakewell, Noble David Cook, Enrique Tandeter and Raquel Gil Montero portray a more accurate description of the human-labor issue (free and non-free workers) with completely different estimates. Bolivia's cooperative mining sector, whose center is in Potosí, has been given many privileges including favorable tax treatment to miners and exemption from labor and environmental regulations for cooperatives since

12236-483: The late 18th century, colonial officials ended the administrative and religious use of Quechua. They banned it from public use in Peru after the Túpac Amaru II rebellion of indigenous peoples. The Crown banned "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's Comentarios Reales . Despite a brief revival of the language immediately after the Latin American nations achieved independence in

12369-493: The latter's regime, Morales was stationed as a guard at the Palacio Quemado (Presidential Palace). Following his military service, Morales returned to his family, who had escaped the agricultural devastation of 1980's El Niño storm cycle by relocating to the Tropics of Cochabamba in the eastern lowlands. Setting up home in the town of Villa 14 de Septiembre, El Chapare , using a loan from Morales' maternal uncle,

12502-445: The level of social spending was increased, it remained relatively low, with a priority being the construction of paved roads and community spaces such as soccer fields and union buildings. In particular, the government focused on rural infrastructure improvement, to bring roads, running water, and electricity to areas that lacked them. The government's stated intention was to reduce Bolivia's most acute poverty levels from 35% to 27% of

12635-554: The local market rather than export. A new state-owned body was also set up to distribute food at subsidized prices. All these measures helped to curb inflation, while the economy grew (partly because of rising public spending), accompanied by stronger public finances which brought economic stability. During Morales' first term, Bolivia broke free of the domination of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) which had characterized previous regimes by refusing their financial aid and connected regulations. In May 2007, it became

12768-525: The march, which arrived at its destination on 19 September 1994, where they covered the city with political graffiti. He was again arrested in April 1995 during a sting operation that rounded up those at a meeting of the Andean Council of Coca Producers that he was chairing on the shores of Lake Titicaca . Accusing the group of plotting a coup with the aid of Colombia's FARC and Peru's Shining Path ,

12901-415: The market value. Activists blocked off the road into La Paz, resulting in clashes with police. 80 were killed and 411 injured, among them officers, activists, and civilians, including children. Morales did not take an active role in the conflict, instead traveling to Libya and Switzerland, there describing the uprising as a "peaceful revolution in progress". The government accused Morales and the MAS of using

13034-558: The mayoralty in any big cities, reflecting their inability to gain widespread support among the urban middle-classes. In Bolivia's wealthy Santa Cruz region, a strong movement for autonomy had developed under the leadership of the Pro Santa Cruz Committee ( Comite Pro Santa Cruz ). Favorable to neoliberal economics and strongly critical of the cocaleros, they considered armed insurrection to secede from Bolivia should MAS take power. In March 2005, Mesa resigned, citing

13167-469: The mines and refining patios also caused the deaths of miners during the Spanish rule, and it is believed that around eight million miners died in total. However, other sources estimate that it was "hundreds of thousands," and that eight million deaths were actually the total number of deaths in the Viceroyalty of Peru, not just the mines in Potosí. It is known as the "mountain that eats men" because of

13300-521: The most spoken language lineage in Peru , after Spanish. The Quechua linguistic homeland may have been Central Peru. It has been speculated that it may have been used in the Chavín and Wari civilizations. Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the Inca Empire . The Inca were one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke

13433-527: The mountains to die, but he was rescued by other union members. To combat this violence, Morales concluded that an armed cocalero militia could launch a guerrilla war against the government, but he soon chose to pursue an electoral path. In 1992, he made various international trips to champion the cocalero cause, speaking at a conference in Cuba , and also traveling to Canada , during which he learned of his mother's death. In his speeches, Morales presented

13566-450: The narcotics trade in 2007. Nevertheless, the number of cocaine seizures in Bolivia increased under Morales' government, as they sought to encourage coca growers to report and oppose cocaine producers and traffickers. High levels of police corruption surrounding the illicit trade in cocaine remained a continuing problem for Bolivia. Morales' government also introduced measures to tackle Bolivia's endemic corruption; in 2007, Morales issued

13699-541: The national vote, although 70% of the vote in Cochabamba. In 2000, the Tunari Waters corporation doubled the price at which they sold water to Bolivian consumers, resulting in a backlash from leftist activist groups, including the cocaleros . Activists clashed with police and armed forces, in what was dubbed " the Water War ", resulting in 6 dead and 175 wounded. Responding to the violence, the government removed

13832-501: The party structure, giving it greater independence from the social movement; this was done to allow Morales and other MAS leaders to respond quickly to new developments without the lengthy process of consulting the bases, and to present a more moderate image away from the bases' radicalism. Although he had initially hoped for a female running mate, Morales eventually chose Marxist intellectual Álvaro García Linera as his vice-presidential candidate, with some Bolivian press speculating as to

13965-546: The poor and ensure continued support for the government, particularly the Bono Juancito Pinto which is distributed very close to election day. Morales announced that one of the top priorities of his government was to eliminate racism against the country's indigenous population. To do this, he announced that all civil servants were required to learn one of Bolivia's three indigenous languages, Quechua, Aymara, or Guaraní, within two years. His government encouraged

14098-447: The population, and moderate poverty levels from 58.9% to 49% over five years. The welfare state was expanded, as characterized by the introduction of non-contributory old-age pensions and payments to mothers provided their babies are taken for health checks and that their children attend school. Hundreds of free tractors were also handed out. The prices of gas and many foodstuffs were controlled, and local food producers were made to sell in

14231-590: The pressure of Morales and the cocalero roadblocks and riots. Amid fears of civil war, Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé became president of a transitional government , preparing Bolivia for a general election in December 2005 . Hiring the Peruvian Walter Chávez as its campaign manager, the MAS electoral campaign was based on Salvador Allende 's successful campaign in the 1970 Chilean presidential election . Measures were implemented to institutionalize

14364-491: The previous Bonosol social security for seniors program, increasing payments to $ 344 per year, and lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 60. 2009's Bono Juana Azurduy program expanded a previous public maternity insurance, giving cash to low-income mothers who proved that they and their baby had received pre- and post-natal medical care, and gave birth in an authorized medical facility. Conservative critics of Morales' government said that these measures were designed to buy off

14497-403: The protests to overthrow Bolivia's parliamentary democracy with the aid of organized crime, FARC , and the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Libya. Morales led calls for President Sánchez de Lozada to step down over the death toll, gaining widespread support from the MAS, other activist groups, and the middle classes; with pressure building, Sánchez resigned and fled to Miami , Florida . He

14630-433: The purposes of domestic consumption, with each family being restricted to the growing of one cato (1600 meters squared) of coca. A social control program was implemented whereby local unions took on responsibility for ensuring that this quota was not exceeded; in doing so, they hoped to remove the need for military and police intervention, and thus stem the violence of previous decades. Measures were implemented to ensure

14763-592: The reforms' progress. Morales' government increased the legal minimum wage by 50%, and reduced the pension age from 65 to 60, and then in 2010 reduced it again to 58. While policies were brought in to improve the living conditions of the working classes, conversely many middle-class Bolivians felt that they had seen their social standing decline, with Morales personally mistrusting the middle-classes, deeming them fickle. A 2006 law reallocated state-owned lands, with this agrarian reform entailing distributing land to traditional communities rather than individuals. In 2010,

14896-513: The site". Originally, the Spanish Empire used a forced labor system called " Repartimiento de Indios " (also known as " Repartimiento ") to extract silver from Cerro Rico, though in region of the former Inca Empire , it was known as mita. During the first decades of extraction, the mines in Potosí had vast deposits of pure silver and silver chloride deposits, which made the extraction of silver relatively easy. Native American labor in

15029-427: The state and 18% to the companies. The oil companies threatened to take the case to the international courts or cease operating in Bolivia, but ultimately relented. As a result, Bolivia's income from hydrocarbon extraction increased from $ 173 million in 2002 to $ 1.3 billion by 2006. Although not technically a form of nationalization, Morales and his government referred to it as such, resulting in criticism from sectors of

15162-420: The state sector with United States support; hyperinflation came under control, but unemployment rose to 25%. Becoming increasingly active in the union, from 1982 to 1983, Morales served as the general secretary of his local San Francisco syndicate. In 1983, Morales' father Dionisio died, and although he missed the funeral, he temporarily retreated from his union work to organize his father's affairs. As part of

15295-547: The time of the Spanish arrival . It has been argued that Mapuche, Quechua, and Spanish coexisted in Central Chile , with significant bilingualism, during the 17th century. Alongside Mapudungun, Quechua is the indigenous language that has influenced Chilean Spanish the most. Quechua-Aymara and mixed Quechua-Aymara- Mapudungu toponymy can be found as far south as Osorno Province in Chile (latitude 41° S). In 2017

15428-577: The two nations when in December Morales issued a Supreme Decree requiring all U.S. citizens visiting Bolivia to have a visa. His government also refused to grant legal immunity to U.S. soldiers in Bolivia; hence the U.S. cut back their military support to the country by 96%. In December 2006, he attended the first South-South conference in Abuja , Nigeria, there meeting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi , whose government had recently awarded Morales

15561-530: The two nations' presidents, Castro and Chávez. In April 2006, Bolivia agreed to join Cuba and Venezuela in founding the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), with Morales attending ALBA's conference in May, at which they initiated with a Peoples' Trade Agreement (PTA). Meanwhile, his administration became "the least US-friendly government in Bolivian history". In September Morales visited

15694-528: The victorious MNR, whose candidate, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, became president. They won 8 seats in the Senate and 27 in the Chamber of Deputies. Now the leader of the political opposition , Morales focused on criticising government policies rather than outlining alternatives. He had several unconstructive meetings with Sánchez de Lozada but met with Venezuela's Hugo Chávez for the first time. Just prior to

15827-513: The voluntary Forest Stewardship Council , Bolivia continued to witness rapid deforestation for agriculture and illegal logging. Economists on both the left and right expressed concern over the government's lack of economic diversification. Many Bolivians opined that Morales' government had failed to bring about sufficient job creation. Morales' administration sought strong links with the governments of Cuba and Venezuela. In April 2005 Morales traveled to Havana for knee surgery, there meeting with

15960-459: The work of volunteers in order to operate. It was not structured like other political parties, instead operating as the political wing of the social movement, with all tiers in the movement involved in decision making; this form of organisation would continue until 2004. In the December 1999 municipal elections , the MAS secured 79 municipal council seats and 10 mayoral positions, gaining 3.27% of

16093-575: The works of poet Andrés Alencastre Gutiérrez and it was also the first non-Spanish native language thesis done at that university. Currently, there are different initiatives that promote Quechua in the Andes and across the world: many universities offer Quechua classes, a community-based organization such as Elva Ambía 's Quechua Collective of New York promote the language, and governments are training interpreters in Quechua to serve in healthcare, justice, and bureaucratic facilities. In 1975, Peru became

16226-601: The world's first country to withdraw from the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes , with Morales stating that the institution had consistently favored multinational corporations in its judgments. Bolivia's lead was followed by other Latin American nations. Despite being encouraged to do so by the U.S., Bolivia refused to join the Free Trade Area of the Americas , deeming it

16359-420: Was a vital player in insuring the successful popular election of Evo Morales and also functioned as one of the leaders in drafting Bolivia's new constitution establishing a plural mining economy (state, private, and cooperative). However, over the last ten years much conflict has arisen between cooperative miners and state miners. In 2006, state miners and cooperatives clashed at Huanuni leaving 16 dead leading to

16492-538: Was accompanied by factional in-fighting, with a leadership contest emerging in the ASP between the incumbent Alejo Véliz and Morales, who had the electoral backing of the social movement's bases. The conflict led to a schism, with Morales and his supporters splitting to form their own party, the Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples ( Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos – IPSP). The movement's bases defected en masse to

16625-461: Was also a system of cyclical labor, so after their required time was done, many Amerindians would continue working at the mines as free wage laborers or mingas , despite the harsh conditions. Given the use of mercury and the high amount of silver extracted from the mines, mercury poisoning among the Amerindian laborers was common, which caused many miners to die. Other harsh conditions at both

16758-462: Was at 16%, the highest in South America. Attempting to rectify this with the aid of left-wing allies, Bolivia launched a literacy campaign with Cuban assistance, and Venezuela invited 5,000 Bolivian high school graduates to study in Venezuela for free. By 2009, UNESCO declared Bolivia free from illiteracy. The World Bank stated that illiteracy had declined by 5%. Cuba also aided Bolivia in

16891-506: Was born in the small rural village of Isallawi in Orinoca Canton , part of western Bolivia's Oruro Department , on 26 October 1959, to an Aymara family. One of seven children born to Dionisio Morales Choque and his wife María Ayma Mamani, only he and two siblings, Esther and Hugo, survived past childhood. His mother almost died from a postpartum haemorrhage following his birth. In keeping with Aymara custom, his father buried

17024-790: Was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the National Congress as a representative for El Chapare, having secured 70.1% of the local vote. In the national elections of 1997 , the IU/ASP gained four seats in Congress, obtaining 3.7% of the national vote, with this rising to 17.5% in the department of Cochabamba. The election resulted in the establishment of a coalition government led by the right-wing Nationalist Democratic Action ( Acción Democrática Nacionalista – ADN), with Hugo Banzer as president; Morales lambasted him as "the worst politician in Bolivian history". Rising electoral success

17157-548: Was found to carry predominantly silver ores, mining focus shifted to the harvesting of the more lucrative ore over ores like tin, zinc, and lead found in Porco and Sucre. Now one of the largest silver mines in Bolivia , and in the world, the Cerro Rico de Potosí mine to date has yielded an estimated 60,000 tons of silver, and deposits are thought to still contain estimated reserves of 1.76 billion ounces (50,000 tons) of silver and 540 million tons of ore grading 0.17% tin. The mine

17290-585: Was maintained as the prestige dialect in the north. Speakers from different points within any of the three regions can generally understand one another reasonably well. There are nonetheless significant local-level differences across each. ( Wanka Quechua , in particular, has several very distinctive characteristics that make the variety more challenging to understand, even for other Central Quechua speakers.) Speakers from different major regions, particularly Central or Southern Quechua, are not able to communicate effectively. The lack of mutual intelligibility among

17423-720: Was personally involved in this direct activism and in 1984 was present at a roadblock where 3 campesinos were killed. In 1988, Morales was elected to the position of Executive Secretary of the Federation of the Tropics. In 1989, he spoke at a one-year commemoratory event of the Villa Tunari massacre in which 11 coca farmers had been killed by agents of the Rural Area Mobile Patrol Unit ( Unidad Móvil Policial para Áreas Rurales – UMOPAR). The following day, UMOPAR agents beat Morales up, leaving him in

17556-472: Was replaced by Carlos Mesa , who tried to strike a balance between U.S. and cocalero demands, but whom Morales mistrusted. In November, Morales spent 24 hours with Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana , and then met Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner . In the 2004 municipal election, the MAS became the country's largest national party, with 28.6% of all councilors in Bolivia. However, they failed to win

17689-511: Was the first victory with an absolute majority in Bolivia for 40 years and the highest national vote percentage of any presidential candidate in Latin American history. Given that he was the sixth self-described leftist president to be elected in Latin America since 1998, his victory was identified as part of the broader regional pink tide . Becoming president-elect , Morales was widely described as Bolivia's first indigenous leader, at

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