Evo Morales poised to become next President of Bolivia

Evo Morales (left) with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez

In the footsteps of Che Guevara: Democracy in South America
Thirty-eight years after the revo- lutionary perished in the Bolivian foothills, Evo Morales is poised to become the first indigenous president of the impoverished country [Bolivia] which has been run by politicians of European descent since independence in 1825

By Daniel Howden in La Paz

....

At the end of one of its corridors, just visible through office doors, hangs the more modern image of Che Guevara. Inside the room, he is everywhere. Among the myriad images is a black and white poster showing his patchy, iconic beard and piercing eyes above the slogan, "I'd rather be an illiterate Indian than a North American millionaire".

Thirty-eight years after his death in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes, trying to spark a Marxist revolution, the socialist soldier of fortune's boast reverberates in the dilemma now facing the country.

Bolivia is at a crossroads and goes to the polls on Sunday to choose between a Harvard-educated, American-married, member of the business elite and an indigenous Aymara Indian and radical former coca farmer.

The two leading presidential candidates, Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga and Evo Morales, personify the bitter divide between the European-descended haves and the majority indigenous have-nots, in Bolivia and beyond.

(For more on this) (also see: Chris Kulczycki at Daily Kos)