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12/03/2004:

"Firebrand leader poised for Bolivia triumph"

The hardline leftwing party led by Latin America's most prominent indigenous leader is set to emerge as the biggest victor in Bolivia's municipal elections on Sunday chiefly because support for its discredited traditional rivals will see their support sink to new lows.

Independent candidates backed by a variety of local committees look likely to retain control of La Paz and other large cities. Evo Morales's Movement to Socialism (MAS) party's expected advantage reflects broader political fragmentation in Latin America, especially its turbulent Andean region. However, analysts do not expect him to score more than 25 per cent of the vote well short of the results expected by independent candidates in most Bolivian cities. The MAS "will be the biggest party but only because everyone else has gone into meltdown", says Winston Moore, a La Paz-based political analyst.

Mr Morales is hoping to build significantly on his 22 per cent of the vote in the 2002 presidential elections, in order to launch another bid for the presidency in 2007. His firebrand leadership of the coca growers' union, support for Cuba and leftwing ideology have made him a bête noire for US policymakers: two years ago, the former US ambassador to La Paz controversially advised Bolivians not to vote for him.
Full Article: nytimes.com

Another firebrand. South America is positively bristling with them. Yay.