LADB, Latinamerica Press 7/17/2002

The big surprise in Bolivia’s June 30 presidential election was the second-place finish by Evo Morales, a senator and leader of coca-growing campesinos.

Because none of the 11 candidates won a majority of 50 percent of the votes plus one, the new Congress — 27 senators and 130 members of the lower house of Congress also elected June 30 — will choose between the two top vote-getters on Aug. 4 (LP, June 17, 2002).

Former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-97) of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) placed first in the balloting, with 22.45 percent of the vote. Morales of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) party won 20.94 percent, a scant 700 votes ahead of four-time Cochabamba mayor Manfred Reyes Villa of the New Republican Force (NFR), who polled 20.92 percent.

Former President Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-93) of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) placed fourth, with 16.3 percent, while a handful of other parties trailed.

Because no party won a congressional majority, Sánchez de Lozada will have to strike deals with other groups to win the presidency. The MNR, which won 47 seats, will need at least 32 more votes.

While MAS won 35 congressional seats,the party is unlikely to muster the votes needed for Morales to win. The Pachacuti Indigenous Movement (MIP), led by campesino leader Felipe Quispe Huanca (LP, April 23, 2001), which won 6 percent, is likely to back Morales. Other parties more closely aligned with the MNR’s ideology, however, will probably support Sánchez de Lozada.

During the campaign, Morales pledged to stop paying on Bolivia’s foreign debt and to nationalize industries sold to foreigners during the past 17 years. He reminded voters that the United States has failed to reward coca-eradication efforts with open markets for textiles and farm products.

On June 26, US Ambassador to Bolivia Manuel Rocha warned that if Morales won, the United States would cut off economic aid and postpone a US$6-billion project to build a pipeline and liquefaction plant to export Bolivian natural gas to the United States. He compared Morales to Osama bin Laden and said the candidate was linked to drug trafficking.

Rocha’s comments drew immediately criticism from all other candidates and President Jorge Quiroga, who said that in the election, "the decision of Bolivians is free and sovereign." — LP, LADB