Morales wins in Bolivia
Evo Morales assumes Bolivia's presidency Jan. 22 as an extreme outsider to the country's politics, and as the first Indian president to rule an Andean nation that has always been governed by people of European descent.
His triumph is causing concern in Washington because of his promises to reverse the U.S.-backed campaign to end the growing of coca leaf, which is used to make cocaine, and to nationalize Bolivia's gas and oil reserves.
This could be interesting because this guy is Castro level anti-US. His plan to 'nationalize' Bolivia's natural resources isn't as bad as the word suggests, what he intends is similar to what Chavez is doing. Leaning on companies that signed questionable long term deals under previous administrations to renegotiate.
His plans to stop of the US drug war programs could be a bigger issue. He is a native from the traditional coca growing regions, and is opposed to almost the entire US backed drug war.
Morales will have to make some anti-US moves, since that is a critical part of the platform he ran on. But the political situation is liable to be so unstable that he will spend most of his time just staying in power. He will have to deal with the established power blocks in Congress to pass some of his measures, and they don't like him.
Plus, there is a great risk that the local radical groups that where critical in his rise to power could turn on him at any moment. These groups forced the last two presidents to resign, and will do the same thing to Morales if they don't like his politics.
Jay