Morales becomes Bolivia's first Indian president
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-23 09:18

Leftist coca grower leader Evo Morales was sworn in on Sunday as the first indigenous president of Bolivia with high expectations of a better life for the poor majority in one of Latin America's most volatile countries.

The latest in a string of leftists to sweep to power in the region in a backlash against U.S.-backed free-market policies, Morales won 54 percent of the vote on December 18, the biggest landslide since the return to democracy in 1982.

An Aymara Indian who herded llamas as a boy, Morales cried as he donned the presidential sash and medal over his black wool jacket embroidered with traditional colored stripes while an unprecedented 12 heads of state looked on.

New Bolivian President Evo Morales speaks to supporters at the Plaza de los Heroes square in La Paz, Bolivia on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006.[AP]

"The 500 years of Indian resistance have not been in vain," Morales said in his inaugural speech. "From 500 years of resistance we pass to another 500 years in power."

Miners and Indians with weathered faces, many clad in the colorful clothing of the Andean highlands, swarmed the colonial government square chanting "Evo, Evo" and waving the indigenous rainbow-hued flag, the Wiphala.

Bolivia's rich and poor hope the historic hand-over will bring stability after street protests toppled the two previous presidents and dozens died in clashes with security forces.

But Morales' leftist and pro-coca rhetoric has unsettled Washington, a highly influential presence in Bolivia as the top aid donor and sponsor of a coca eradication program. In closing his election campaign, he said his Movement to Socialism party was "a nightmare for the United States."

His biggest supporters along the way have been Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, united by their opposition to U.S. presence in the region.

In his inaugural speech, Morales blamed the "neo-liberal" economic policies of the past and the "looting of our natural resources" for the poverty that affects around two-thirds of Bolivians.

"We have a lot of faith that he can help us because he is a poor man like us," said Teofira Marca Sajama, an Indian woman from Morales' home province of Oruro clad in a bowler hat, flouncy skirt and bright green shawl.