In
2006, Juan Evo Morales Ayma became Bolivia's first indigenous head of state since
Spaniards took control over 470 years ago. Evo Morales' story of a poor indigenous
farmer without a high school education who rose to his nation's highest office,
has inspired millions throughout his country and all of Latin America. Evo Morales
ran on a platform promising reform, and by the end of his first year he had already
fulfilled a number of his promises. He had promised to bring his nation more of
the profits of their oil and gas resources, and to ensure that the revenues were
spread more equitably for all of Bolivia's citizens. Before he took office in
2005, Bolivia received $300 million from oil and gas exports; after he nationalized
the nation's oil and gas production, the state received 2 billion dollars. He
also promised agrarian reform -- much of the land in Bolivia was held by only
a small number of people; after his reforms many more people had access to land
for agricultural purposes. As promised, Evo Morales' government convened a constitutional
assembly, and is promoting the teaching of indigenous languages in Bolivia's schools.
After his election, he traveled all around the world to meet with other leaders
to gain economic and political support. Evo Morales, like other current liberal
leaders in Latin America, is viewed by conservative governments as a controversial
figure, because a central idea in his worldview is that uncontrolled capitalism
is causing many of the serious problems humanity faces, from global climate change
to widespread poverty and hunger. In December 2006, Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo
Pérez Esquivel began a campaign to nominate Evo Morales for the 2007 Nobel Peace
Prize.
