The frontrunner in the Bolivian presidential election race, Evo Morales, is promising to legalize the growing of coca, if elected. He doesn't seem too keen on improving relations with the U.S.:
"We are prepared to negotiate with the gringos, but won't accept impositions," [Morales] said. "If they want to take away their aid, let them. It's useless anyway and serves mainly to repress the people."
Morales rose to fame through his creation of the Movement to Socialism (MAS). Here's a description of MAS's constituency:
"Evo formed MAS by forging an alliance between coca-growing syndicates, remnants of Che Guevara-inspired guerrilla groups, radical indigenous organizations, Trotskyite-led miners' unions as well as elements of the traditional left," Mr. Barrientos said.
Cocaine traffickers, leftwing rebels, and communist unionists. What a lovely melange of supporters. Hugo Chavez was annoying enough when he was a lonely clown, but the proliferation of neo-socialist Chavez clones throughout Latin America is becoming a pretty disturbing trend. The resiliance of Marxism in the face of its utter failure as a governing philosophy never ceases to astound.
