Bolivia's Home-Grown President

Miss Bolivia, Susan Barrientos: Now that I have your attention, you can read the rest of this :D


Evo Morales, below left.

Evo Morales may have won at the polls, but Bolivia is still far from a victory.

On its face, the election of Evo Morales to the presidency of Bolivia would seem like an enormous victory for the left -- another domino in the line of Latin American nations turning away from Washington Consensus-style economics to forge a path of its own. But the question remains whether the first indigenous president in Bolivia's history will be allowed -- by the Bolivian Congress or by the larger international financial and legal system -- to live up to his promises and fulfill the enormous expectations of his supporters. If not, Bolivia could face an even more unstable future.

The symbolic value of a Morales victory cannot be overstated in a country where symbols represent the passions of a people mobilized to change what they see as 500 years of state oppression.

But will Evo Morales be able to live up to his promises?

Read on about this interesting country and its new native president. . . .

Read Miss Bolivia's Bios here....