Pubdate: Mon, 19 Dec 2005
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2005 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Juan Forero

COCA ADVOCATE WINS ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT IN BOLIVIA

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Dec. 18 - Evo Morales, a candidate for president who
has pledged to reverse a campaign financed by the United States to
wipe out coca growing, scored a decisive victory in general elections
in Bolivia on Sunday.

Mr. Morales, 46, an Aymara Indian and former coca farmer who also
promises to roll back American-prescribed economic changes, had
garnered up to 51 percent of the vote, according to televised
quick-count polls, which tally a sample of votes at polling places and
are considered highly accurate.

At 9 p.m., his leading challenger, Jorge Quiroga, 45, an
American-educated former president who was trailing by as much as 20
percentage points, admitted defeat in a nationally televised speech.

At his party's headquarters in Cochabamba, Mr. Morales said his win
signaled that "a new history of Bolivia begins, a history where we
search for equality, justice and peace with social justice."

"As a people who fight for their country and love their country, we
have enormous responsibility to change our history," he said.

Mr. Quiroga's concession signaled that he was prepared to step aside
and avoid a protracted selection process in Congress, which, under
Bolivian law, would choose between the top two finishers if neither
obtained at least 50 percent of the vote.

"I congratulate Evo Morales," Mr. Quiroga said in a somber
speech.

The National Electoral Court had not tabulated results on Sunday
night, though Mr. Morales echoed the early polls and claimed to have
won a majority.

His margin of victory appeared to be a resounding win that delivered
the kind of mandate two of his predecessors, both of whom were forced
to resign, never had. Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian-born political
analyst from Florida International University in Miami, said Mr.
Morales could be on his way to becoming "the president with the most
legitimacy since the transition to democracy" from dictatorship a
generation ago.

A Morales government would become the first indigenous administration
in Bolivia's 180-year history and would further consolidate a new
leftist trend in South America, where nearly 300 million of the
continent's 365 million people live in countries with left-leaning
governments.

Though most of those governments are politically and economically
pragmatic, a Morales administration signals a dramatic shift to the
left for a country that has long been ruled by traditional political
parties disparaged by many Bolivians.

The victory by Mr. Morales will not be welcomed by the Bush
administration, which has not hidden its distaste for the charismatic
congressman and leader of the country's federation of coca farmers.
American officials have warned that his election could be the advent
of a destabilizing alliance involving Mr. Morales, Fidel Castro of
Cuba and Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, who has seemed determined
to thwart American objectives in the region.

In comments to reporters after casting his vote in the Chapara
coca-growing region on Sunday , Mr. Morales said his government would
cooperate closely with other "anti-imperialists," referring to
Venezuela and Cuba. He said he would welcome cordial relations with
the United States, but not "a relationship of submission."

He also pledged that under his government his country would have "zero
cocaine, zero narco-trafficking but not zero coca," referring to the
leaf that is used to make cocaine.

Mr. Chavez, who has met frequently with Mr. Morales, expressed
confidence that Bolivia would turn a new page with the election. "We
are sure what happens today will mean another step in the integration
of the South America of our dreams, free and united," he said earlier
in the day from Venezuela.

The election, which was marked by personal attacks, pitted two
fundamentally different visions for how to extricate Bolivia from
poverty. While Mr. Quiroga pledged to advance international trade, Mr.
Morales promised to squeeze foreign oil companies and ignore the
International Monetary Fund's advice.

Mr. Morales enjoyed strong support in El Alto, a largely indigenous
city adjacent to the capital, La Paz, where voters said they had tired
of years of government indifference.

"The hope is that he can channel our needs," said Janeth Zenteno, 31,
a pharmacist in El Alto. "We have all supported Evo. It is not just
what he says. It is that this is his base and he knows us."

For Javier Sukojayo, 40, a teacher, the election could signal a
transformation of Bolivia into a country where the poor have more say.

"It has been 500 years of oppression since the Spanish came here,"
said Mr. Sukojayo, who counts himself as indigenous. "If we are part
of the government - and we are the majority - we can make new laws
that are in favor of the majority."
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