Nutter wins Bolivia Election

[minionofmidas]

this guy makes lula look like a swell guy!

Lula is a swell guy.

[minionofmidas]

I wasn't even aware there were elections up ... why'd nobody tell me ?
Over 50%... wow. Last time he polled half that (granted that was a very divided election, with two major candidates per rough political camp.)

[minionofmidas]

this guy makes lula look like a swell guy!

Lula is a swell guy.

yes he is a harmless drunkard.

...in other words, a man much like you and me.

[minionofmidas]

Just thought I'd check regional polarization levels.

By the way, the Electoral Commission says 33.4% of precincts have reported and 29.5% of all eligible voters have voted in them - we're either looking at an extremely high turnout, or the city precincts are much larger and have been counted first.

Morales is at 48.3%, the Conservative guy at 34.7%.

Chuquisaqua (214K registered voters) 51.7% - 35.9% with 48.0% of precincts reporting
La Paz (1.18 mio) 66.1 - 19.1 with 31.0
Cochabamba (649K) 47.1 - 39.9 with 32.1
Oruro (194K) 55.1 - 32.2 with 33.0
Potosí (282K) 49.7 - 36.7 with 23.9
Tarija (178K) 28.9 - 49.3 with 65.6
Santa Cruz (811K) 28.9 - 46.3 with 33.5
Beni (135K) 13.1 (coming third) - 56.3 with just 6.8
Pando (26K) 25.1 - 45.6 with 54.1

[minionofmidas]

You make Obrador sound a lot like Helmut Kohl.

[minionofmidas]

"Boliviens neuer Präsident nennt Bush Terrorist

Im Wahlkampf hatte sich Boliviens künftiger Präsident schon als Alptraum der USA bezeichnet. Nach seinem Sieg betitelte der Sozialist Evo Morales Präsident George W. Bush nun als Terroristen.

Dubai - "Der einzige Terrorist der Welt, den ich kenne, ist Bush. Seine Militärinterventionen wie die im Irak, das ist Staatsterrorismus", sagte Morales dem arabischen TV-Sender Al-Dschasira. Es gebe einen Unterschied, ob Menschen für eine Sache kämpften oder als Terroristen agierten, sagte Morales. "Heute in Bolivien und Lateinamerika erheben die Menschen nicht mehr ihre Waffen gegen den Imperialismus, aber der Imperialismus erhebt seine Waffen gegen die Menschen, und zwar mit Militärinterventionen und Militärstützpunkten."

Im Wahlkampf hatte sich Morales als Alptraum für die USA bezeichnet. Unmittelbar nach seinem Sieg bei der Präsidentenwahl in Bolivien kündigte der Sozialist erste Schritte zur Verstaatlichung der Gasvorkommen des Landes an. Bolivien verfügt über Südamerikas zweitgrößte Gasvorkommen, 90 Prozent davon gehen in den Export.

Mit Morales steht erstmals in der Geschichte des Landes ein Indio vor der Übernahme der Präsidentschaft Boliviens. Das offizielle Endergebnis der Wahl wird erst in einigen Tagen feststehen. "

I'll just translate the choice bits...
Bolivia's New President calls Bush "Terrorist"

(...) "The only terrorist I know is Bush. His military interventions, such as in Iraq, that's state terrorism," Morales told Al-Jazeera. "Today in Bolivia and all over Latin America, the people are not fighting* imperialism anymore, but imperialism is still fighting against the people, using military interventions [the US hasn't intervened militarily in Latin America since Haiti, and Panama before that ] and military bases."

* as in, armed fighting. Can't be bothered with a stylish translation.

[minionofmidas]

You make Obrador sound a lot like Helmut Kohl.

I don't think Herr Kohl was going around claiming that every time anyone coughs in his direction it is a "criminal plot against my life", or am I wrong?

No, his paranoia is of a more eccentric type. Anytime somebody breathes in his presence it is an attack on his role in future history books.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That was the point I was referring to ... especially the "doesn't spend any of his dirty money on himself, just uses it for a vast patronage machine" part.

[minionofmidas]

It's not mentioned in polite conversation, Opebo.

[minionofmidas]

Just thought I'd check regional polarization levels.

By the way, the Electoral Commission says 33.4% of precincts have reported and 29.5% of all eligible voters have voted in them - we're either looking at an extremely high turnout, or the city precincts are much larger and have been counted first.

Morales is at 48.3%, the Conservative guy at 34.7%.

Chuquisaqua (214K registered voters) 51.7% - 35.9% with 48.0% of precincts reporting
La Paz (1.18 mio) 66.1 - 19.1 with 31.0
Cochabamba (649K) 47.1 - 39.9 with 32.1
Oruro (194K) 55.1 - 32.2 with 33.0
Potosí (282K) 49.7 - 36.7 with 23.9
Tarija (178K) 28.9 - 49.3 with 65.6
Santa Cruz (811K) 28.9 - 46.3 with 33.5
Beni (135K) 13.1 (coming third) - 56.3 with just 6.8
Pando (26K) 25.1 - 45.6 with 54.1

Update:
Morales at 54.1%, his opponent at 28.6%.
96.8% of precincts have reported, and 82.3% of registered voters have voted in them.

By province-
Chuquisaqua 55.1 - 31.4 (85.1)
La Paz 66.8 - 18.1 (99.5)
Cochabamba 64.8 - 25.1 (complete)
Oruro 62.6 - 25.0 (99.5)
Potosí 57.1 - 26.3 (95.9)
Tarija 31.6 - 45.3 (complete)
Santa Cruz 32.9 - 42.2 (95.7)
Beni 15.7 (third) - 47.4 (81.2). Second place goes to MNR, 30.0% (nationally fourth, 6.2%)
Pando 20.9 (third) - 45.2 (complete). Second place goes to Union Nacional, 23.2% (nationally third, 7.8%)

[minionofmidas]

Evo Morales´ victory is certainly a victory for the left, but I would say the main issue there is not ideology but ethnicity. His (long and boring) speech the election night showed Evo is more about non-whites reaching power for the first time than for a particular set of policies. He already said he will include all ethnic groups (aymara, quechua and white) in his cabinet, because he realises there is no way he will stay in power without white-middle class support.

Regarding his policies, I think we will indeed become much more moderate than while he was in opposition. However, that could cause him trouble with the extreme left (and extreme anti-white quechua leader Quispe), so I think we will have a hard time running the country. Still, I think (right wing) Quiroga would have a much harder time. Sometimes only left parties can do (not so) left things in government...

Yeah, Quispe is the extremist to Morales' moderate.
I noticed Quispe ran again but fared far far worse than before. He polled 8% last time, something like 1% this time.

[minionofmidas]

Can you say Noriega?

Yes, I can, but I don't see any connection.

Noriega was a US installed dictator who went haywire and was disposed by his masters.
Morales is a democratically elected president who came into office on a wave (among other things) of antiamerican feeling.

[minionofmidas]

Oh yeah right, that issue. I'd totally forgotten about that.
Say, IIRC Peru lost territory to Chile around then as well. Is this still an issue in Peru too?

[minionofmidas]

Peru also opposes giving Bolivia access to the Pacific.

Why is that? Shouldn't they be making joint cause in trying to get the ancient boundaries back?

[minionofmidas]

Peru also opposes giving Bolivia access toPacific.

Why is that? Shouldn't they be making joint cause in trying to get the ancient boundaries back?

Peru and Bolivia also has their boundary disputes and I'm pretty that the Bolivians hasn't forgotten that they where under Peru for a while. - And hey, we've got a better claim for Holstein that Bolivia has for the Atacama area;)

For Schleswig maybe. Hey, you can have that as far as I care. As long as you support Frankfurt independence in return. (Hey, and Bolivia was called High Peru under the Spanish. I don't approve of naming countries after people anyways. For a return of "Alto Peru" and "Nueva Granada" to the maps of the world!)

[minionofmidas]

On German tv they dubbed him thanking "our Gods". I just went "wow, I love it. Paganism Rules!"