Evo Morales: commitment to change: in an exclusive interview with Americas, Bolivia's president discusses the ever-changing political, social, and economic issues his administration is encountering.

• Author: Trujillo, Amparo
• Position: Interview

Evo Morales Ayma: a controversial man, labor leader, indigenous leader, and coca grower. Unknown in the international arena until a few years ago, he became President of Bolivia on January 22, 2006. At 46, Morales is the first indigenous president to be elected in his country and on the continent, and while polemical, he has been able to maintain a high level of popularity and sympathy among the Bolivian people.

"I still can't quite believe that I ran for President. The troth is that sometimes I still feel more like a labor leader than a president," said Morales in an interview with Americas magazine. He is convinced that the struggles and demands of the people have brought results, in spite of the many obstacles encountered on the way.

It hasn't been easy for him to get to where he is. During the interview, he talked about his childhood and about the enormous value of the principles instilled in him by his parents. These principles, along with a great deal of tenacity and discipline, helped him to overcome many obstacles in his life. One obstacle was that of being expelled from the National Congress in 2002, an experience that helped to deepen his commitment to the people. But his time as an elected representative in congress also helped him to learn more about the political, social, and economic reality of his country.

The Bolivian leader sleeps only four hours a day and works from Monday to Sunday. These long days aren't new to him. When he was young, he lived in rural areas where his chores began before dawn and he harvested rice and coca leaves, rain or shine.

In his struggle for a new Bolivia, the Evo Morales government has begun some important changes. "An irreversible change has begun in Bolivia," he said, as he described a government-wide austerity plan that has yielded a savings of 61 million bolivianos (national currency) for the country. This money will be used for education and health projects. Money obtained from the cancellation of foreign debt by countries like Japan, or by financial institutions like the Inter-American Development Bank, is being used on employment development projects. In addition, the nationalization of hydrocarbons has quintupled state income from the sale of gas and petroleum, and this money is strengthening municipalities and regions.

Evo, as he is called informally, thinks it is absolutely inexplicable that indigenous people are still being considered "sub-national groups" or that native peoples are seen as beneficiaries when they are, in fact actors in their own development. "Step by step, we are going to continue the campaign until the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the world are able to get the Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed," he says. This document is currently being negotiated in the OAS with the indigenous peoples of the hemisphere.

Land distribution is also attracting renewed interest from Bolivians these days--specifically, a comprehensive land reform that fulfills an economic and social function as established by the Constitution, one that includes and doesn't discriminate against indigenous peoples and peasant farmers. Morales proposes an "agrarian revolution" that would put an end to the latifundio and with it, the hoarding of land for speculative purposes.

Bolivia has a population of nine million people and an average per-capita income of US$1.01 a day, according to World Bank statistics. Evo Morales hopes that the economy will grow by at least five percent this year, and that this will help to close the gap of poverty and inequity that has left its mark on the Bolivian people throughout history.

Now that you are the President of Bolivia, how do you see your past political experience as a labor leader, indigenous leader, and coca grower?

First of all, I never thought or even dreamed of being President. I didn't even...