Evo Morales in Elected President of Bolivia

Evo Morales is Elected President of Bolivia

The person I am today begins with my time and formation in Bolivia. I lived in Cochabamba for all of 1994 all of 1995 and part of 1996 and the work I did and the place fills me to this day. I worked as a volunteer in a men's prison and the work profoundly changed me as to scour away much of my ignorance and narrowmindedness and opened my eyes to the reality of our Americas.

I first met Evo Morales by accident a the Post Office in Cochabamba. He saw my wooden Tau cross and called me Hermano, as in Brother or Friar it was the greatest compliment I have yet recieved.

I got to know Evo Morales during my work in the jail most of the members of my fraternity in the jail were minor coca leaf offenses. Most of the men I worked with had lost everything for trying to feed their families.

Evo Morales was the leader of the Cocaleros. The justice of their cause, opposing eradication of Coca leaf and trying to help poor people to get out a cycle of poverty that resulted in death for so many destroyed my faith in many things I once held dear.

Evo Morales said simply "no" to the desire of the Americans to eradicate coca a plant that has grown in the Andes for 20,000 years and he demanded that America deal with their demand not destroy the Andes and its people because Americans wanted to buy Cocaine. He is not loved by the US but he is right and we are wrong.

Evo Morales is an Aymara a member of one of the three largest indig. groups in the Americas over 2 million people speak Aymara in the Andes, 6 million Quechua and over 5 million Guarani these are the last places in the Americas where there are
the traditions and languages that predate the Spanish and Portuguese in these numbers. The people of the Andes are not Hispanic and they are not Latinos they are the Children of the Inkas and Tiuanaco and they bear witness to survival.

I say that as we approach the longest day of the year in South America we ask the Pachamama and Virococha to bless Evo Morales and help him to be just and to give voice to those who are ignored by so many. I also hope that God in his wisdom will protect him and let the people I once worked with in Bolivia have hope in their future.

Paz y Bien