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Bolivian Presidential Candidate Wants to Legalize Coca Production
The leftist front-runner for Sunday's election in Bolivia, Evo Morales, has ended his campaign saying his movement is "a nightmare for the United States". "Yeah! You think Chavez is a pain in the ass? Just wait, gringos..." Mr Morales has vowed to end free-market policies and legalise the growing of coca, which has traditional uses but is also used in the production of cocaine. His main rival, the conservative Jorge Quiroga, ended his campaign promising to create jobs and prosperity. Bolivia has had five presidents in four years and is a deeply divided nation. Situation: normal for that country, actually. It is currently governed by interim President Eduardo Rodriguez, who took office after Carlos Mesa was ousted amid popular protests. Eight candidates are running in Sunday's election. Polls suggest that Mr Morales - an Aymara Indian who is hoping to become the country's first indigenous head of state - has a slight lead over Mr Quiroga, a former president. However, Mr Morales appears unlikely to obtain 50% of the vote, meaning that congress will have to choose a president between the two top candidates in January. On Thursday, he told a large crowd in the city of Cochabamba that it was time for those humiliated by history to run the country, the poorest in South America. "And with my plan, we can become the most wretched country in the hemisphere! Watch out, Haiti!" Washington has said it expects any future Bolivian government to honour previous commitments to fight the production of illegal drugs. Mr Quiroga, a US-educated engineer, has called for a "zero coca" policy. A former World Bank and International Monetary Fund consultant, Mr Quiroga has said he will concentrate on getting Bolivia's foreign debt cancelled. Bolivians are also due on Sunday to elect a new congress and new prefects, or governors, in all of the country's nine departments. I remember when I was a tiny tot, and my mother told me why they cancelled the revolution in Bolivia when it rained. The guerrillas hate it when their bullets get wet. Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-12-16 |
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