Bolivia's
Morales says constitution rewrite will give majority power
Evo Morales, Bolivia's president
AFP
LA PAZ
Petroleumworld.com
02 13 06
President Evo Morales wants to "refound" Bolivia with
a constitutional rewrite, a move reminiscent of the controversial
reform wave executed by his leftist ally Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez.
Morales, in a speech late Saturday in which he formally renounced
his job as coca farmers' union federation leader, told indigenous
supporters "this fight does not stop here; we may be the
government but ... in Bolivia we are not the power -- yet."
"If we want to be the power (in majority indigenous Bolivia),
that will happen through the Constituent Assembly, which is another
challenge. We want to refound Bolivia," argued Morales, Bolivia's
first indigenous president in 180 years of independence from Spain.
He said he wanted no restrictions on delegates to be elected July
2 and to begin work on August 6.
Morales is a vocal opponent of the US drug policy in his country
-- notably its coca eradication program -- and of the US occupation
of Iraq and US military presence in Latin America.
Washington has accused Chavez, the leftist-populist leader of
South America's only OPEC power, of using his influence to destabilize
the region.
Chavez, like Morales an ally of communist Cuban President Fidel
Castro, was elected president in 1998, and 2000, and then "refounded"
Venezuela with a constituent assembly and new constitution.
Critics however say that the new constitution put unprecendented
powers in the Venezuelan president's hands, broadening his control
over the government and economy, and allegedly sidelining opposition.
AFP
02 12 06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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