Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma, popularly known as Evo, is a Bolivian politician and cocalero activist who has served as President of Bolivia since 2006. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come from the indigenous population, his administration has focused on the implementation of leftist policies, poverty reduction, and combating the influence of the United States and multinational corporations in Bolivia. A democratic socialist, he is the head of the Movement for Socialismparty...
NationalityBolivian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 October 1959
CityOrinoca, Bolivia
CountryBolivia (Plurinational State of)
In 2006, I entered the presidential palace in the main square of La Paz as the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Our government, under the slogan 'Bolivia Changes,' is committed to ending the colonialism, racism and exclusion that many of our people lived under for many centuries.
I forgive the people in the White House for their numerous humiliations and accusations. I forgive because we must embark, through dialogue, on the search for peace and social justice.
The people who are responsible must be punished harshly. Disarming a country and its armed forces really is a crime.
It is something we will have to deal with. We will deepen investigation and the Justice will have to try army officers under charges of treason .
We never requested this auction to be set back as it's important for the country. It's important that we seek investment.
I don't mind being a permanent nightmare for the United States.
It's easy for people in an air-conditioned room to continue with the policies of destruction of Mother Earth. We need instead to put ourselves in the shoes of families in Bolivia and worldwide that lack water and food and suffer misery and hunger.
The most important thing is the indigenous people are not vindictive by nature. We are not here to oppress anybody - but to join together and build Bolivia, with justice and equality.
We are going to strengthen relations with state oil companies ... We are going to guarantee that partners have all the right to recover their investment.
We want to overcome our historical problems with Chile. The sea has divided us and the sea must bring us back together again. Chile has agreed, for the first time, to talk about sea access for Bolivia.
As an indigenous leader from Bolivia, I know what exclusion looks like. Before 1952, my people were not allowed to even enter the main squares of Bolivia's cities, and there were almost no indigenous politicians in government until the late 1990s.
We are starting a process of decolonization in Bolivia. All this is bringing about change and we will continue.
The contracts were signed when a barrel of oil cost 18.0 or 19.0 dollars, whereas nowadays a barrel is more than 60.0 dollars.
We are not a government of mere promises, we follow through on what we propose and what the people demand.