Bolivia's Morales feted in ceremony at pre-Inca ruins

[EuroObserver]

21/01/2006 21h15
TIWANAKU, Bolivia (AFP) - Evo Morales was crowned supreme chief of Andean Indians in an elaborate ceremony, one day before his inauguration as Bolivia's first indigenous president.

Some 20,000 Aymara and Quechua Indians clad in brightly colored ponchos gathered at South America's oldest ruins to witness the Aymara Indian who won Bolivia's presidency by a landslide being invested with sacred powers by a shaman chief.

Morales, 46, is to take the oath of office in La Paz Sunday before world leaders including the EU's Javier Solana, Crown Prince Felipe of Spain, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Cuba will be represented by Vice President Carlos Lage, and the United States by Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Tom Shannon, who was scheduled to meet Morales on Saturday.
...

None of the world dignitaries set to attend the inauguration was on hand for Saturday's ceremonies, packed with political symbolism in a country long ruled by the European-descended elite.

/more story, photos ... http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060121211516.q3osi9aj.html

[rodeodance]

1. must have been a lovely cereamony. I wish him well.

[rodeodance]

2. The US is only sending an Assistant Sec of STate--that is horrible

in my book.


the United States by Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Tom Shannon, who was scheduled to meet Morales on Saturday.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. Well, be thankful they aren't send Karen Hughes

You know what I mean, Vern?

[Judi Lynn]

6. I'm sure he disrespected the occassion by conveying some threats.

We've got a very shabby group in charge. They are a disgrace to sensible people everywhere.

I hope fate will keep them from making his life a living hell.

[1932]

7. I'd like to think that Gore or Clinton would have gone if this happened

during their administration.

If there's an enthusiastic googler out there, perhaps you could look up the US representative at the January 1999 inauguration of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

[Flanker]

10. Clinton was not present

and if memory serves neither was Albright.

[hwmnbn]

3. I love when stuff like this happens......

A centuries-old civilization with unique customs and culture persists, and now one of their descendants is in political power in the 21st century. I'm thinking Morales has ways of thinking that are more humane and natural than our materialism.

He embraces his culture and he won an election. Somehow, there's a glimmer of hope in me when something like this happens. If only it would happen here in the US.

[BrotherBuzz]

4. Bush experienced a similar corination....but for more sinister reasons

<snip>

The First Prince of the Theocratic States of America


It happened quietly, with barely a mention in the media. Only the Washington Post dutifully reported it. And only Kevin Phillips saw its significance in his new book, American Dynasty. On December 24, 2001, Pat Robertson resigned his position as President of the Christian Coalition.

Behind the scenes religious conservatives were abuzz with excitement. They believed Robertson had stepped down to allow the ascendance of the President of the United States of America to take his rightful place as the head of the true American Holy Christian Church.

Robertson’s act was symbolic, but it carried a secret and solemn revelation to the faithful. It was the signal that the Bush administration was a government under God that was led by an anointed President who would be the first regent in a dynasty of regents awaiting the return of Jesus to earth. The President would now be the minister through whom God would execute His will in the nation. George W. Bush accepted his scepter and his sword with humility, grace and a sense of exultation.

<more>

http://www.theyuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm

[Peace Patriot]

14. Evo Morales' beautiful gesture is in no way comparable to our lying,

murderous, fake president's utterly hypocritical "Christianity," even as a joke. Thugs like Bush have been trying to exterminate indigenous peoples for centuries. And the thieves, pillagers and killers who have used "Christianity" to loot other countries and destroy their cultures are still with us in the form of global corporate predators in whose interest Bush has slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, and has tortured many others, and intends to do so in South America as well, wherever there is oil, or potential sweatshop labor.

Unlike Bush, Morales earned the right to honor his ancient culture, by getting elected, overwhelmingly. It would be comparable, here, to the great grandson of Chief Seattle being elected president of the U.S. Try to imagine that, and weep for how backward we have become, under this Bush junta, and how non-transparent our elections are. We allow modern "conquistadors" to rule over us, while the Bolivians, the Venezuelans, the Chileans, the Argentinians, the Brazilians and the Uruguayans are all throwing off colonial rule, in a peaceful leftist revolution that is sweeping South America--by means of TRANSPARENT elections.

We should be so lucky to have a president who honored, and was honored by, indigenous peoples! --or one who was a REAL Christian, for that matter!

---------------------------

Throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW! (--and don't do it as fake Indians, but as honest, open, FREE people!)

[savemefromdumbya]

8. Hope everything goes well for him and the Bolivian people

[Odin2005]

9. Can we call him Inca Evo?

:)

[Judi Lynn]

15. IThat would be "Aymara Evo," if you wanted to be accurate.

[David__77]

11. Viva la revolucion bolivariana continental!

Aplastar el imperialismo y el neoliberalismo.

[Judi Lynn]

12. ABC story on his ceremony: Bolivia's Morales Urges Unity, Strength

Bolivia's Morales Urges Unity, Strength
Bolivian President-Elect Evo Morales Vows to Do Away With Vestiges of Country's Colonial Past



Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, left, receives an indigenous symbol of leadership from Aymara priest Valentin Mejillones at the archaeological site of Tiawanacu, Bolivia, 40 miles outside of La Paz, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006, where Morales attended a ceremony to ask Andean gods for help and guidance on the eve of his inauguration as Bolivia's new president. (AP Photo/Nano Cartegena)

By FIONA SMITH Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

TIWANAKU, Bolivia Jan 22, 2006 — Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, dressed in a bright red tunic worn only by the most important pre-Inca priests, promised to do away with vestiges of his country's colonial past Saturday in a spiritual ceremony at an ancient temple on the eve of his inauguration.

To roars from the crowd of tens of thousands, Morales the first Indian to be elected as Bolivia's president and a fierce critic of the U.S. called his landslide election a victory for indigenous populations around the world, saying it was evidence that poor countries can rise up to challenge richer ones.

"With the unity of the people, we're going to end the colonial state and the neoliberal model," said Morales, who spoke mostly in Spanish but also offered greetings in the Aymara language he grew up speaking as a boy.

Afterward, Morales headed to La Paz and met with Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, who heads the State Department's Western Hemisphere affairs bureau.

The two spent an hour talking in the kitchen of Morales' small apartment, but did not discuss coca eradication.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1530355&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Judi Lynn]

13. Comment on Bush's pathetic attitude:U.S. POLICY ON BOLIVIA QUESTIONED

Jan. 21, 2006, 11:54PM
U.S. POLICY ON BOLIVIA QUESTIONED
As Evo Morales takes S. American nation's reins today, analysts push warmer ties


By JOHN OTIS
South America Bureau

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA - During a recent whirlwind tour around the globe, Evo Morales, who will be sworn in today as Bolivia's president, received a hero's welcome from Cuba's Fidel Castro as well as millions in aid and an honorary sword from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

But Morales did not visit the United States, the No. 1 financial aid donor and trading partner of Bolivia.

The leftist coca grower, who won by a landslide last month, lacked a U.S. visa. What's more, Bush administration officials did not invite him because they resented his anti-American rhetoric and thought he was in cahoots with drug traffickers.

With South America increasingly leaning toward the left, Bolivia seems to stand at a crossroads. While Morales contemplates whether to adopt U.S.-friendly policies or gravitate toward hard-line leftists such as Chavez and Castro, some analysts question the Bush administration's arm's-length approach.

Rather than issuing a ringing endorsement of the 46-year-old Aymara Indian, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared recently that relations between the countries would depend on the behavior of the Morales government. There are plenty of financial carrots that may persuade Morales to cooperate with Washington.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3603559.html

[Judi Lynn]

16. Venezuela to Trade Fuel for Farm Goods (with Bolivia)

Venezuela to Trade Fuel for Farm Goods
11:20 PM EST, January 21, 2006
By ALAN CLENDENNING, AP Business Writer

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pressed his crusade to spread his energy influence across South America late Saturday, promising to trade $150 million of diesel fuel annually with Bolivia in return for agricultural goods.

Chavez made the pledge after arriving in the Bolivian capital for Sunday's inauguration of leftist coca grower Evo Morales as Bolivia's first Indian leader.

While Bolivia has the second largest reserves of natural gas on the continent after Venezuela, it is an importer of diesel and Chavez is seeking to cement ties with Morales in a bid to spread socialist-inspired programs across the region. Venezuela is the fifth largest petroleum exporter in the world.

"We're preparing an agreement so Bolivia can pay us this price, not in dollars, but in products, like soy for example," Chavez declared as he was surrounded by a horde of reporters in the lobby of his hotel.
(snip/...)

http://www.courant.com/business/sns-ap-bolivia-chavez-energy,0,7429026.story?coll=hc-headlines-business