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Bolivia’s 1st Indian President Sworn In

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Times Staff Writer

Evo Morales, who rose from rural poverty to become a crusader for disenfranchised Indians and a fierce critic of U.S. policy, was sworn in Sunday as the first indigenous president of this impoverished Andean nation.

“The 500 years of Indian resistance have not been in vain,” Morales, his eyes at times tearful, declared in his inaugural speech as thousands watching him on a giant TV screen outside the government palace cheered. “From 500 years of resistance we pass to another 500 years in power.”

This high-altitude administrative capital was replete with parades, rallies and impromptu demonstrations of solidarity for Morales, an Aymara Indian who herded llamas as a boy and scavenged fruit tossed by passing motorists. All segments of the Bolivian population, even the largely white and mixed-race upper echelon that has long dominated the country, seemed to recognize the historic significance of his electrifying rise.

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Juan Alvarado, 56, a coca-leaf-chewing miner, wore his work helmet as he joined the tumultuous throng saluting the new president. “He is of the same blood as we are. He knows how we have suffered,” he said. “Our ancestors always said we would emerge triumphant after the centuries of mistreatment.”

Morales’ ascension has lifted hopes of bringing long-stalled economic progress to a nation notorious for its lack of upward mobility, where as much as 60% of the population remains mired in poverty. But many worry that despite his promised wide-ranging reforms, Morales will find it hard to match expectations. His Movement to Socialism coalition controls only one of two houses in Congress and three of nine governorships.

“We know everything cannot transform overnight, but we are confident that Evo will be able to bring us justice,” said Fanny Vaza, 36, a teacher and mother of four. “Bolivia has needed a change for years, and we finally have a real change.”

A dozen heads of state witnessed Morales and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera -- a former sociology professor and political prisoner -- took the oath of office for five-year terms and donned ceremonial sashes. Afterward, Morales saluted the crowd from a balcony flanked by several leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of the new president and an implacable opponent of the Bush administration.

Later, Morales led an official march through packed downtown streets to an open-air location at Plaza San Francisco, where joyous crowds who had gathered that morning were listening to Andean ballads condemning imperialism and extolling socialism.

Morales, known for his informal dress, eschewed a tie for an open-collared white shirt and a wool jacket embroidered with traditional multicolor stripes.

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He struck a theme of reconciliation in his almost two-hour inaugural speech, which came a day after a cordial meeting here with Thomas A. Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for the region.

During the presidential campaign, Morales -- who came to prominence leading unionized growers of coca leaf, the raw ingredient in cocaine -- had pledged to be a “nightmare” for Washington and harshly criticized U.S.-funded efforts to eradicate the crop.

His rise to the presidency has been widely viewed as among the most dramatic manifestations of a regionwide backlash against U.S.-backed market-based economic policies. “We are going to end the colonial state and the neoliberal model,” said Morales, using the common regional term for such economic policies.

He plans to convene a convention this year to reform the nation’s constitution.

The movement has helped to also bring leftist governments to power in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Another left-leaning populist, former army officer Ollanta Humala, is leading in the polls ahead of April’s presidential election in neighboring Peru.

Nevertheless, since Morales’ landslide win on Dec. 18, in which he drew 54% of the vote, he and his advisors have toned down the left-wing rhetoric, tempered talk of expropriating foreign assets in the natural-gas-rich nation and pledged not to act rashly or to needlessly alienate potential allies. Morales has pledged to fight drug trafficking and find other markets for coca products that are legal in Bolivia, such as tea.

“Cocaine is not part of the Andean culture,” he said. “We must finish with drugs.”

Among the leaders Morales met with before his swearing-in was President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, who leaves office in March. Both men sought to mollify prolonged tensions between their neighboring nations. Morales had angered many Chileans by pledging to fight to recoup coastal territory lost in a 19th century war with Chile. That outcome left Bolivia landlocked, which has contributed to the nation’s perennially impoverished status.

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Morales also has tried to reach out beyond Bolivia’s Indian masses and appeal to the middle class, entrepreneurs and the wealthy, holding out hope of political stability in a nation where protests have chased two presidents from power since 2003. Although more than half of Bolivia’s nearly 9 million people identify themselves as indigenous in census figures, many are of mixed race and no longer speak Indian languages or live in traditional communities.

Still, Morales continually returned to the needs of Bolivia’s long-ignored Indians during his speech, at one point adopting the Aymara language. He thanked the Pachamama, a kind of Mother Earth spirit, and praised Tupac Amaru and other Inca chiefs killed by the Spaniards centuries ago. At least three times, he also invoked the name of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary who was slain in Bolivia in 1967 during an ill-fated guerrilla operation.

“The struggle of Che is our struggle,” Morales said.

His words resonated on the streets of La Paz, where a mix of miners, coca farmers and city dwellers of varying backgrounds listened, many on transistor radios. In the throes of “Evomania,” many waved Bolivia’s tricolor flag along with the multicolored wiphala, a banner representing the indigenous people of the Andes.

“We are hopeful that Evo will allow us to grow a lot more coca. The market is there,” said Victor Apaza, 42, a farmer from the Yungas region who carried a Morales banner. “After all, Evo is one of us.”

Sprinkled among the crowds were Western backpackers and light-skinned Che admirers from across the globe.

“I don’t know a lot about Evo Morales, but I know that he has raised the hopes of a lot of Bolivians,” said Charlotte Keppler, 20, a German visitor. “I just hope he can help as much as everyone hopes.”

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Times researcher Andres D’Alessandro contributed to this report.

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