The current political situation in the country arose due to the fact that in 2005, the President of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa, resigned after spending 2 years at the highest state post. The situation was complicated from a legal point of view, as a result of which the chairman of the Supreme Court became the interim head of state. From June 10 to December 18, 2005, the President of Bolivia was Eduardo Rodriguez Wielze, who had to take this post after the chairmen of both houses of Parliament refused their honor.
2005 events
After thousands of demonstrations lasting several weeks, early 2005 presidential elections were held in the country . As a result of the vote, Evo Morales, a populist politician of extreme leftist views, became the president of Bolivia.
The main election promise of the future chapter was the nationalization of the oil industry, the refusal to pay debts to external creditors. In addition, a great enthusiasm among the population was caused by the proposal to allow the cultivation of coca to meet personal needs. All these initiatives resonated among the local population. As a result, Evo Morales became president of Bolivia.
Reign of Evo Morales
For all the time that Morales is at the helm of Bolivia, cocaine production in the country has grown by more than a third. This put her on a par with the largest suppliers of this drug.
The president himself claims that coca production does not affect the growth of drug trafficking and continues to sign international agreements to combat drug trafficking. One of these agreements was concluded in Moscow in 2005.
However, in the same year, the President of Bolivia sent the US ambassador out of the country and terminated a similar agreement with America. The chapter explains his position on growing a drug-containing plant in the country by the fact that for many centuries local residents cultivate it, without harming other people, but using it only for medical purposes.
Another eccentric event of the Morales presidency was the implementation of constitutional reform, which revised the foundations of the Bolivian state system.
The course on socialism
As the head and founder of the Movement to Socialism party, Morales set about carrying out left-wing reforms and barely came to power. How did it go? To begin with, a constitutional reform was required, which was possible only through a referendum.
This procedure was carried out with resounding success - 61% of the population voted in favor of its implementation. According to the main provisions, hydrocarbons were nationalized and all large corporations that received superprofits from gas produced in Bolivia were expelled.
In addition, the constitution guaranteed the passage of representatives of national minorities to parliament and abolished the official status of Catholicism. Perhaps the most unusual provision of the new constitution was the recommendation to honor the goddess of fertility, Pachamamu, whom the indigenous people of Bolivia have worshiped for many centuries.
It is worth noting here that such attention of the new President of Bolivia to local culture is due to the fact that he became the first representative of the indigenous Bolivians to occupy such a high position in the state apparatus.