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News > Latin America

Indigenous, Campesino Groups Lobby for Morales’ Re-election

  • Evo Morales

    Evo Morales | Photo: EFE

Published 3 August 2015
Opinion

Saying they have been excluded from power for centuries, these groups argue that a president that represents them should have the right to govern longer.

Campesinos and indigenous unions in Bolivia agreed Sunday to work towards indefinite re-elections for the presidency, a move that would allow President Evo Morales to retain his position “for life.”

During an event celebrating the agrarian revolution in the central region of Cochabamba, campesinos and indigenous organizations emphasized that they had been excluded from institutions of power for over five centuries.

“Now is our turn to govern for 500 more years with the leadership of our brother, Evo Morales,” said the head of the Union Confederation of Bolivian Rural Workers. “That's why we will dedicate ourselves to bring the re-election of our president not only until 2025, but I would say 'for life' because now it is the turn of the Bolivian people to govern,” he said.

RELATED: Why the Media Distorts Bolivia's Environmental Record

Other social leaders stated they will support Morales' presidency bid in 2019 general elections so he could govern for the 2020-2025 term.

“The president needs to keep governing between 2020 and 2025. We will never again allow neoliberal parties to govern again,” said Melva Hurtado, an indigenous leader.

Morales, who also attended the Cochabamba conference, did not comment specifically on the re-election topic, focusing instead on land conflicts that are affecting indigenous and campesinos and how these sectors managed to take power.

RELATED: Evo Morales Talks to teleSUR: On Social Justice, Freedom

In 2009, Evo Morales established a new constitution that allowed two consecutive terms. Last October, he was successfully re-elected with over 61 percent of the vote. The electoral authorities ruled that his candidacy was legal as he never finished his very first term (Morales was first elected in 2006).

RELATED: Beyond Evo Morales’ Electoral Victory: A View from La Paz

Last April, leaders of the National Coordination for Change, a confederation of indigenous and campesinos groups, launched the idea of a referendum about modifying the constitution to allow another term. Morales has not commented yet on this initiative.

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