The
president of Bolivia Evo Morales, will be inaugurated
next January 21st, as leader Abya Yala, the indigenous
name meaning Our America. This will take place a day
before he officially begins his second term of office as
head of a government which has aroused great
expectations for its dedication to the poor, the
dispossessed and the historically excluded.
Representatives from about 300 organizations of
indigenous populations from the whole continent will
gather in the Andean city of Tiahuanaco, to witness the
moment in which the wise Aymara Indians, the Amautas,
will give their blessing to the government and will
invoke the good omens for his administration.
Morales
assured that all his efforts will be aimed at reducing
the inequalities of the Bolivian society. This work
started during his first term in government (2006-2010),
which Evo described as insufficient, due to the
obstacles put forward by sectors which traditionally
have benefited from being in power and the national
wealth.
Nowadays,
Bolivia displays enviable results in its economic and
social performance despite the opposition of the Right,
the effects of the global capitalist crisis and the
hostility of the United States government.
The Latin
American nation achieved the greatest growth in the
region, with 3.2 percent. The international reserves
were boosted by almost 50 percent of the gross domestic
product, GDP, which is equivalent to about 8, 600
million dollars.
President
Morales noted that at the beginning of his first term of
office, the annual GDP per person was $ 871, and by the
end of December, 2009, had reached $ 1,733.
During 1986,
Bolivia experienced an inflation of 61 percent. But in
2009, the cumulative rate of increase in prices of basic
products was 0.29 percent, with marked declines in areas
such as food, beverages, culture and recreation.
All this was
possible thanks to the policy of recovery of the
national sovereignty of the main natural resources like
oil, gas and minerals, which the neoliberal governments
had handed over to transnational corporations.
Now the
future looks much more promising for the Bolivian people
after the results of the elections. The Movement Toward
Socialism gained the vast majority of the votes in the
new Multinational Legislative Assembly, whose sessions
will begin formally on January 22nd.
The
legislative body will have, for the first time in
history of the republic, a broad based composition, with
a representation from the wide ethnic range in the
country such as the afro-Bolivians, Chipayas,
Chiquitanos and Muratos, as well as from the Aymara and
Quechua.
Because of
this laws can be enacted to speed up the great social
transformations so necessary to achieve a fairer and
more humane society where people live together in full
harmony with nature.
The
challenge is enormous and, no doubt, there will be
people willing to put many obstacles in the way. But the
achievements, so far, allow us to predict that the
nation will continue its journey, which will take
Bolivia from being one of the poorest and most backward
countries of the continent, to an example for the region.
That was one of the dreams of Commander Ernesto Che
Guevara and the brave comrade-in-arms who gave their
lives on Bolivian soil to turn hopes in full reality.
