Word: bolivia
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...Andes in Ecuador, a constitutional referendum last year gave leftist President Rafael Correa the chance to govern until 2017. Correa first won in 2006; Ecuador's new constitution allows him to run for a four-year term in a special election this year, and then another in 2013. Bolivia's leftist President, Evo Morales, who was elected in 2005, won a similar reform in a referendum last month. The question now is whether both leaders will eventually follow their ally Chavez's lead and seek the right to run for re-election indefinitely. Elsewhere, political watchers are waiting...
...Chávez has also used Venezuela’s petroleum wealth to extend his influence in the region while the Bush administration focused elsewhere. In particular, he has invested in his ideological allies in the region, including Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Evo Morales’s Bolivia, and Rafael Correa’s Ecuador. But, for all his hatred of the United States, Chávez remains a dutiful producer of oil for American consumption, delivering over a million barrels a day to the evil superpower in the north. As a result, he has become an unfortunate...
However you see it, ending term limits seems increasingly popular around Latin America. Chávez remains the standard-bearer of the region's resurgent left; and after his first attempt to change the constitution, leftist Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador had their own term limits relaxed by popular vote. Colombia's conservative President, Alvaro Uribe, won't deny that he hopes to engineer a constitutional fix letting him seek a third term when his second mandate ends next year. The trend has democracy watchdogs fretful about a return of the Latin caudillo. (See pictures...
...Bolivia A COUNTRY REBORN Although the South American nation has seen many constitutions--17 since it was founded in 1825--the latest incarnation received more than 60% approval at the polls, the first time a Bolivian constitution has been up for a national vote. The document promotes equality for Bolivia's put-upon indigenous majority and nationalizes several natural resources, among other changes. The result bolsters President Evo Morales' chances in coming elections, although he still faces opposition in Bolivia's wealthy lowlands; at least four out of nine provinces rejected the charter...
...Washington, the Obama Administration responded positively to Bolivia's vote. Responding to a reporter's question, acting State Department Spokesman Robert Wood said, "we congratulate the Bolivian people on the referendum... we look forward to working with the Bolivian Government in ways we can to further democracy and prosperity in the hemisphere." Says Mark Weisbrot, director of the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research: "it's a hopeful sign" for the future of relations between the two countries. The previous U.S. administration would most likely have remained silent on Bolivia's electoral processes...