Evo Morales | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2018 | |
| 65th President of Bolivia | |
| In office 22 January 2006 – 10 November 2019 | |
| Vice President | Álvaro García Linera |
| Preceded by | Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé |
| Succeeded by | Jeanine Áñez |
| President pro tempore of CELAC | |
| In office 14 January 2019 – 10 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Salvador Sánchez Cerén |
| Succeeded by | Jeanine Áñez |
| President pro tempore of UNASUR | |
| In role 17 April 2018 – 16 April 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Mauricio Macri |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Leader of the Movement for Socialism | |
| Assumed office 1 January 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba circumscription 27 | |
| In office 2 August 2002 – 22 January 2006 | |
| Alternate | Luis Cutipa |
| Succeeded by | Asterio Villarroel |
| In office 6 August 1997 – 24 January 2002 | |
| Alternate | Valentín Gutiérrez |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Juan Evo Morales Ayma 26 October 1959 Isallavi, Oruro, Bolivia |
| Political party | Movement for Socialism |
| Children | Evaliz Morales Alvarado Álvaro Morales Peredo |
| Parent(s) | Dionisio Morales Choque María Ayma Mamani |
| Relatives | Esther Morales (sister) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Bolivia |
| Branch/service | Bolivian Army |
| Years of service | 1977–1978 |
| Unit | Fourth Ingavi Cavalry Regiment |
Juan Evo Morales Ayma[a] (Spanish pronunciation: [xwan ˈeβo moˈɾales ˈajma]; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come from its indigenous population,[b] his administration worked towards the implementation of left-wing policies, focusing on the legal protections and socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's previously marginalized indigenous population and combating the political influence of the United States and resource-extracting multinational corporations. Ideologically a socialist, he has led the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party since 1998.
Born to an Aymara family of subsistence farmers in Isallawi, Orinoca Canton, Morales undertook a basic education and mandatory military service before moving to the Chapare Province in 1978. Growing coca and becoming a trade unionist, he rose to prominence in the campesino ("rural laborers") union. In that capacity, he campaigned against joint U.S.–Bolivian attempts to eradicate coca as part of the War on Drugs, denouncing these as an imperialist violation of indigenous Andean culture. His involvement in anti-government direct action protests resulted in multiple arrests. Morales entered electoral politics in 1995, was elected to Congress in 1997 and became leader of MAS in 1998. Coupled with populist rhetoric, he campaigned on issues affecting indigenous and poor communities, advocating land reform and more equal redistribution of money from Bolivian gas extraction. He gained increased visibility through the Cochabamba Water War and gas conflict. In 2002, he was expelled from Congress for encouraging anti-government protesters, although he came second in that year's presidential election.
Once elected president in 2005, Morales increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to bolster social spending and emphasized projects to combat illiteracy, poverty, and racial and gender discrimination. Vocally criticizing neoliberalism, Morales' government moved Bolivia towards a mixed economy, reduced its dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and oversaw strong economic growth. Scaling back United States influence in the country, he built relationships with leftist governments in the Latin American pink tide, especially Hugo Chávez's Venezuela and Fidel Castro's Cuba, and signed Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. His administration opposed the autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces, won a 2008 recall referendum, and instituted a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state. Re-elected in 2009 and 2014, he oversaw Bolivia's admission to the Bank of the South and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, although his popularity was dented by attempts to abolish presidential term limits. Following the disputed 2019 election and the ensuing unrest, Morales agreed to calls for his resignation. After this temporary exile, he returned following the election of President Luis Arce.
Morales' supporters point to his championing of indigenous rights, anti-imperialism, and environmentalism, and credit him with overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction as well as increased investment in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. Critics point to democratic backsliding during his tenure, argue that his policies sometimes failed to reflect his environmentalist and indigenous rights rhetoric, and that his defence of coca contributed to illegal cocaine production.
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- ^ Muñoz-Pogossian 2008, p. 180.
- ^ Webber 2011, p. 1.
- ^ Philip & Panizza 2011, p. 57.
- ^ Farthing & Kohl 2014, p. 1.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BBC biowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Harten 2011, p. 7.
- ^ Farthing & Kohl 2014, p. 22.