3 Syrians arrested for creating fake platforms    Saudi Arabia deports 11,687 illegal residents in a week    SR9000 fine for copyright infringement using AI    Nepal eases curfew as protests leave 51 dead; ex-chief justice sworn in as interim PM    Al-Wasel highlights unwavering Saudi commitment to achieve a two-state solution    Israel orders mass evacuation from Gaza City as ground offensive intensifies    Lebanon launches fourth phase of Palestinian camps disarmament plan    Riyadh to host WrestleMania 43 in 2027, first outside North America    Government launches platform to offer residential land in Riyadh at SR1,500 per sqm    Taif represents Saudi Arabia at UNESCO Creative Cities literature network meeting in Slovenia    Summer 2025 sees 32 million tourists in Saudi Arabia with over SR53 billion spending    Al-Futtaim BYD KSA hosts first Super Hybrid Tech Day in Saudi Arabia First event of its kind in the region showcases breakthrough super hybrid technology    Saudi Industrial Production Index rises 6.5% in July 2025    King Charles and Prince Harry finally reunite after 19 months apart    Anastacia: Arnold Schwarzenegger made me sing Whatta Man 12 times    Thousands pay their last respects to Giorgio Armani, private funeral on Monday    French doctor goes on trial for poisoning 30 patients, 12 fatally    The key to happiness    Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to meet in exhibition boxing match in 2026    Al Ahli secure Flamengo starlet Matheus Gonçalves in long-term deal through 2027    Al Qadsiah sign German midfielder Julian Weigl to strengthen defensive midfield    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Bolivia's Morales eyes deeper reforms
By Eduardo Garcia
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 29 - 11 - 2009

Bolivian President Evo Morales looks set to win reelection easily on Dec. 6, allowing him to deepen leftist economic reforms as a fractured opposition struggles to dent his popularity.
Opinion polls show Morales with more than 50 percent support and a 30-point lead, suggesting he will cruise to a second term in the election and likely gain control of Congress in the Andean country, the poorest in South America.
Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president and a close ally of Venezuela's fiery socialist leader Hugo Chavez, says he needs more time to redistribute profits from the key natural gas industry among the poor.
“I think I can achieve a huge triumph on Dec. 6, not a triumph for Evo Morales ... but for you, brothers and sisters,” the former coca farmer said at a campaign rally earlier this month, using the kind of simple language that has cemented his popularity among Bolivia's Indian majority.
Months after taking office in 2006, Morales rattled foreign investors by nationalizing the country's vast natural gas fields – a key source of energy for neighboring Brazil and by far Bolivia's biggest export earner.
Morales, who hails from a poor Aymara Indian family and shuns suits and ties, also took over mining and telecommunication firms, pleasing his Indian support base but irking many middle-class Bolivians, who say he is too radical.
His priorities for a second term look set to include launching state cement, dairy, drug and paper companies, investing in natural gas processing plants and hydroelectric dams and developing Bolivia's huge lithium reserves.
“Winning with a huge majority ... is a great opportunity but there are lots of challenges that remain and lots of challenges that will arrive,” said Kathryn Ledebur, head of the Bolivia-based Andean Information Network think-tank.
Among the challenges that Morales could face are corruption in state-controlled companies, demands from supporters eager for a larger share of state revenues and protests in regions governed by the opposition where Morales is unpopular.
Polls suggest opposition candidates are likely to suffer a crushing defeat, partly because they failed to rally behind a single presidential candidate, political analysts say.
The leading opposition contender, former army captain Manfred Reyes Villa, is trying to win support from the middle class by accusing Morales of having totalitarian ambitions.
“There's already a sort of dictatorship,” Reyes Villa told Reuters earlier this month. “So imagine if he had a majority (in Congress) -- that would be the end for democracy.”
During his first term, Morales issued dozens of presidential decrees to bypass Congress, because he said the opposition-controlled Senate was systematically blocking government-proposed bills.
A new constitution approved in January calls for Congress to pass a set of key electoral and judicial laws within the first half of 2010.
If Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party wins a solid majority in Congress, it would be able to set the tone of these laws to help him cement his power. If it wins two-thirds of the seats, it would be able to pick candidates for high courts.
Such a possibility worries wealthy Bolivians and the business elite based in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, the country's economic powerhouse and an opposition stronghold.
“There is certainly middle-class concern about a consolidation of power but I don't think it's enough for people to want to turn back,” said Jim Shultz, head of the Democracy Center think-tank.
Fierce opposition in provinces such as Santa Cruz plagued Morales' constitutional reform push and he could continue to face a stiff challenge from rightist regional leaders.
At least 10 people were killed last year when anti-government protesters ransacked public buildings and attacked natural gas pipelines in opposition-led regions.
But Morales' foes may have to find new ways to challenge him.
“They tried violence. That was a popular groundswell of protests but it didn't work,” Ledebur said. “They have probably realized that violence is not the way.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.