Evo Morales kicks arse

[Brainaddict]

Glad to see Evo win again in Bolivia. I thought I'd take the opportunity to lament the fact that he is nowhere near as popular among 'radicals' as other South American socialists. I'm not sure why that is - as far as I'm concerned he is the coolest. I mean, let's compare:

Zapatistas: produce highly tedious propaganda for Western consumption
Chavez: a loudmouth, has authoritarian tendencies
Morales: grows coca, wears jumpers

See? No contest.

He also volunteered for a pay cut of 57% and went on a hunger strike against his government (while president) during which he chewed coca leaves to keep himself going.

That's all quite besides his obviously genuine dedication to Bolivia's indigenous peoples. And if you check out Amnesty International's report on Bolivia, nearly all the human rights abuses it mentions are by Morales' enemies, not by his government.

So let's hear it for Evo, the jumper-wearing revolutionary

 

[Rod Sleeves]

I hate to admit it, but even though I'm a proper sceptic of leftwing leaders and an anarchist with all the critique of developing world leaders and everything, Morales is alright in my view - strengthened by the fact that the Bolivian working class and indigenous people are very sceptical themselves and regularly take direct action to remind him to listen to them.

In Bolivia in my experience people who support Morales however critically = sound, people who oppose him = cunts (and often racist as well).

Banning (or trying to ban) second hand cars over five years old was a big mistake though, it played well with developed world environmentalists, but not so well with his core support - it was an arrogant action, the reaction to which hopefully reminded him of his roots.

here's an article from a militant trade unionist in Bolivia who is critical of Morales

Above is another view, and being from a Bolivian more valid than my unscientific reasoning based on two months of travel within the country.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

I like his jumpers!

 

[Brainaddict]

Who doesn't like his jumpers? I think he wears them to international summits and stuff

 

[Divisive Cotton]

I like the way he wears the same jumper too all over the world:

 

[Rod Sleeves]

I think one difference between Venezuela and Bolivia is that Bolivia has a strong and well developed culture of independent working class and peasant self organisation, covering co-ops, unions, benevolent associations, mutual companies, and linked into that a tradition among the Altiplano people of violent direct action against anything they don't like, and this means they have more ability to hold their leaders to account - though it is of course far from perfect. I don't think Venezuela has all that, or at least not on the same scale.

I'd even go as far as to say indigenous Bolivianos are instinctively socialistic in the way they organise their society, inspite of the government, that's not to argue they are naturally progressive, or better than anyone else, or that it is anywhere near perfect, but it does seem to be based on basic popular solidarity.

 

[frogwoman]

he's the one politician i actually respect. I am not particularly fond of Chavez and think he's a bit of a cunt tbh

 

[butchersapron]

I think he's a prick myself His polices seem to be the run of the mill state developmentalist - shorn of the dictatorial tendencies of the old school developmental dictatorships inspired by stalinism or baathism etc i.e provisional aid to the most impoverished of your support base whilst you go about your larger aims. He's not a socialist btw - he's explicitly looking to develop an Andean capitalism - and we're surely past the stage where including the word socialist in your party name means that you truly are what you say your are and not what you actually do. Of course, by comparison his opponents on the further right are much bigger scumbags which will allow people now to say that i objectively side with them.

 

[krtek a houby]

I like the way he wears the same jumper too all over the world:

Those jumpers are going to be iconic

 

[free spirit]

I think he's a prick myself His polices seem to be the run of the mill state developmentalist - shorn of the dictatorial tendencies of the old school developmental dictatorships inspired by stalinism or baathism etc i.e provisional aid to the most impoverished of your support base whilst you go about your larger aims. i.e provisional aid to your support base through temp programs whilst centralising ste power in your own hands. He's not a socialist btw - he's explicitly looking to develop an Andean capitalism - and we're surely past the stage where including the word socialist in your party name means that you truly are what you say your are and not what you actually do. Of course, by comparison his opponents on the further right are much bigger scumbags which will allow people now to say that i objectively side with them.

tbf though, you do have extremely high standards

 

[Crispy]

Those jumpers are going to be iconic

You can buy replicas of them everywhere here

 

[Rod Sleeves]

Where abouts in Bolivia are you?

If you like animals, google La Senda Verde (they're in Coroico) and if you go to Uyuni go with Red Planet - the only decent tour guides, they're straight across from the train station.

 

[Crispy]

Potosi right now, heading to Tapezi in a couple of days and will probably skip uyuni as a destination in itself and just stop over in uyuni as part of the salt flats tour. ta for the recommendation, we've had several, but they all seem to be "not quite as shit as the others"

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Curly, Larry, and Moe.

 

[LLETSA]

I think he's a prick myself His polices seem to be the run of the mill state developmentalist - shorn of the dictatorial tendencies of the old school developmental dictatorships inspired by stalinism or baathism etc i.e provisional aid to the most impoverished of your support base whilst you go about your larger aims. He's not a socialist btw - he's explicitly looking to develop an Andean capitalism - and we're surely past the stage where including the word socialist in your party name means that you truly are what you say your are and not what you actually do. Of course, by comparison his opponents on the further right are much bigger scumbags which will allow people now to say that i objectively side with them.

It isn't a case of objectively siding with anybody. It's just that, whether authoritarian or parliamentarian, leaders who talk radical (and sometimes enact radical policies) have the monopoly on both the slogans and imagery of radicalism, and the support of the working class and the poor generally, marginalising independent working class politics. That's why when they fall it is always to the benefit of the right.

As far as I'm aware, there has never been an exception to this rule.

 

[Rod Sleeves]

I agree that if Morales falls it will benefit the rightwing oppostion, but I would not be as pessimistic about his ability to sideline the independent working class, organisations they are so rooted and part of the culture.

 

[butchersapron]

He's now blaming homosexuality (those who 'have deviations in their being as men') and european baldness on hormone injections in chickens.

 

[elbows]

There is some confusion over the translation and whether he was referring to homosexuality or impotence.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/822927-bolivian-president-blames-sex-problems-on-chickens

There's an amount of confusion over exactly what Morales said, depending on which translation you read. The Associated Press reported that he said 'and because of that, men who consume them have problems being men' - suggesting he was talking about chickens causing impotence.
But another news agency, Agence France-Presse, reported his comments as 'when men eat those chickens, they experience deviances in being men.' Which sounds a bit more like he's blaming chickens for men becoming gay.

Either way he is talking crap on this issue - shame as there are so many issues with chemicals, pollution etc there is really no need for people such as Morales to pick stupid examples, but I guess thats politics and propaganda for you.

Either way, Morales' warning may be out of date: Chicken producers in Europe, the United States and many other countries say they abandoned the use of hormones in poultry several decades ago and many if not most Western nations ban them outright.

Mind you I suspect he probably made some more sensible points during his speech too.

My favourite stupid quote: “within 50 years everyone will be bald”.

 

[ernestolynch]

he's the one politician i actually respect. I am not particularly fond of Chavez and think he's a bit of a cunt tbh

Hugo is great.

 

[lewislewis]

Evo Morales is a great human being, as are Hugo, Raul and Fidel.

 

[J Ed]

Evo has been re-elected for a third mandate with 60% of the vote.

 

[phildwyer]

Evo Morales is a great human being, as are Hugo, Raul and Fidel.

His personality is irrelevant.

He speaks for the poorest people in Bolivia, and he makes improving their lives his first priority. That is why he´s popular.

 

[likesfish]

Any president who can queue in a waiting room to see a doctor like everybody else can't be all bad.
Most western pm's either wouldn't or couldn't

 

[ska invita]

Anyone know how things are going in Bolivia these days?

 

[Orang Utan]

Anyone know how things are going in Bolivia these days?

He's a bit more dapper, having taken to wearing Nehru jackets:

 

[Idris2002]

Anyone know how things are going in Bolivia these days?

Not so good.

 

[Proper Tidy]

And he's gone

BBC News - Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns amid election protests
Bolivian president Morales resigns after protests

 

[Jeff Robinson]

When it’s the military calling the shots, it’s obviously a coup. This media narrative of ‘um, we don’t know, it depends on your perspective‘ is bollocks.

 

[Pickman's model]

Could a passing mod change the thread title to evo morales' kicked arse?

 

[DownwardDog]

His wig is now basically a hat.