Bolivia turns to Evo

Miami Herald: The apparent election of socialist candidate Evo Morales to the presidency of Bolivia can hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has watched South America's poorest country slide into chaos. Thanks in part to Morales, who has played a leading role in inciting social turmoil and political unrest, this will be the sixth government in Bolivia since 1997. Now the shoe is on the other foot. He may soon learn that while street protests can bring down presidents and anti-American slogans can excite the electorate, demagoguery won't rescue Bolivia from economic misery.
As a candidate, Morales routinely promised that, if elected, he would be a nightmare for the United States. That's up to him. It seems fair to note, however, that anyone who makes such a claim forfeits the right to complain about a chill in relations with Washington. Attacking the United States is hardly a novel campaign tactic in Latin America, but it won't solve Bolivia's dire problems.
Economic distress
Foremost among these is economic distress. Bolivians who cheered Morales' leftist economic ideas -- in particular, reasserting state ownership over the country's vast hydrocarbon reserves -- can hardly be blamed for skepticism over free-market reforms. According to a recent World Bank study, real income in Bolivia was actually 1 percent less in 2000 than in 1950.
That owes more to the peculiar conditions of Bolivia, including labor-exploitation policies that go back centuries and have left a huge legacy of mistrust among Bolivia's indigenous workers, than to any market reforms. A change in government policies in the last few years that included excessive taxation on foreign investment and retroactive changes in contracts already signed with foreign investors helped destroy the economic progress Bolivia was making.
Add to that Morales' leftist politics and his clamor to do away with U.S. coca-eradication policies, and the result is deep doubts over whether he can lead Bolivia forward in a world fast changing to a global economy.
There are some good things in Morales' election. He is the first indigenous president in the country's 180-year history, a move long overdue. Voters gave him a strong mandate that allows the executive to enjoy political credibility.