El Condor Pasa

Taking five minutes off from the ICTY and the former Yugoslavia to dash back to Bolivia for a moment. First, a link for those who are out of the Latin American current events loop: Economist.com

Anyway, looks like Evo Morales, populist leader of a coca grower's union and friend of anti-American Hugo Chavez is on the verge of being elected after slowly reaching closer towards the center of government over many years. The country has been through two presidents since I was there a mere two years ago--now the constitution and overall government may be poised for a disruptive overhaul as well. Here are the full details: A Champion of Indigenous Rights.

I may come up as a socialist on political quizzes and believe firmly in equality for the people, but I have a serious problem with disruptive socialist revolutions that destroy positive avenues of trade. I fear Morales may take Bolivia down a path worse than its current trajectory--an overreaction to the left against a problem currently in another quadrant. We shall see--politicians are not always what they seem, and Bolivians have a very low tolerance for failure and mismanagement. Even the people's hero will not last, I imagine, if he cannot immediately produce positive gains.

Keep an eye on the news. Back to sipping my máte de coca...