Power

Evo Moralles has done many good things for his country in the 14 years that he ruled it.

He reduced poverty by two thirds. Almost doubled the minimum wage, while ensuring an average 5% growth. He reduced inequalities. Strengthened the position of indigenous people and women. He built roads, airports and cable cars. A few years ago, the international financial institutions described their country as a model for Latin America. Even if it was ruled by a radical socialist.
However, the Bolivia’s first indigenous president loved power too much.  And so he decided to claim a forth service, by violating the Constitution and the 2016 referendum decision.

Last month, he declared himself the winner of an election showdown that was widely perverted. And that, while the «economic miracle» has begun to fade, revenues from gas exports have fallen dramatically and the burning of Amazon’s forests to meet China’s beef and soy needs has been proved to be a less successful strategy. People went out in the streets, there were dead and injured. When the army withdrew its support, Morales knew the end had come.

It is at least simplistic the Alexis Tsipras’s  tweet, with which the former prime minister expressed solidarity  «to Morales and the people of Bolivia». Boths sides interests are no longer identical. Democracy, of course, must win, but this requires honest elections and respect for the popular will. SYRIZA’s president is unable to understand this. He has always been a Castro fan of course. He still supports Maduro.He likes lifelong leaders, in general. But Latin America is changing.