Bolivia’s Morales faces a challenge from fellow Indian

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Instability continues in Bolivia, according to Patrick J. McDonnell.

The colonial town of Sucre in the south-central highlands, renowned as the cradle of Bolivian independence, has become a front line in a new battle that is threatening to rip this South American nation asunder.

The pugnacious prefect, or governor, Savina Cuellar, a former livestock herder who proudly dons the broad-brimmed hat and billowing skirt that mark her indigenous origins, has become a symbol of the country’s deep divisions.

Her peasant background inevitably evokes comparisons to the humble history of leftist President Evo Morales, the coca-leaf cultivator who in 2005 was elected Bolivia’s first indigenous president.

But the two allies have become bitter adversaries. Their differences say much about the schisms of class, region and ethnicity that some fear have left Bolivia on the verge of civil war. Five of Bolivia’s nine governors, including Cuellar, are lined up against Morales and his controversial plans for a new constitution.

Read more of the dispatch from Bolivia on President Evo Morales’ woes here.

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