Bolivia holds presidential elections today and I was contemplating a lengthy post on the subject, but have been too lazy to do so.
However, I will still point interested readers to this piece at WaPo via Reuters: Bolivia’s Morales seen cruising to re-election.
I will say this: there is little doubt that many US commentators will see this election as nothing more than a contest featuring a Chávez ally (and he is that, as well as Castro ally), but to understand the situation fully one has to go well beyond that. For example, an extremely important aspect of the situation is the long-term conflict between the traditional political elites and the majority indigenous population and the fact that Evo Morales is the first president elected from that majority population. Another key fact is that much of the anti-US sentiment in Bolivian politics is linked to the US War on Drugs and the fact there is a centuries-old traditional (and non-drug linked) cultivation of coca by that indigenous population.
Further, one ought not be especially surprised that Bolivia might find itself is the Venezuela/Cuban sphere given that it is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.
