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leaves around his neck. He's a mountain Indian; parents were coca leaf growers. The coca leaf is a sacred plant in the Andes, essential to survival in the extreme cold and high altitudes. He, too, opposes the murderous U.S. "war on drugs." He doesn't support misuse of drugs or the crime associated with trafficking. He is not in the sway of any cartel (no hint of that). He is pure Indian--views it as a sacred plant, and sees the U.S. "war on drugs" for what it really is--a war on poor peasants and leftists.
Ten thousand Andean Indians came down out of the mountains for a special ceremony to invest Morales, prior to his official inauguration--when he was elected president of Bolivia a few months ago, the first indigenous ever to hold that office. I think what's happening in Latin America has a spiritual aspect to it that we only have the vaguest hints and notions of. Humala is part of it. He, like Chavez, at first took the military coup route to overthrowing bad fascist regimes. Both had a profound change of heart, it seems to me. Chavez's popularity began when he was in prison for participating in a coup attempt. He came out of prison a great hero, and committed to constitutional government, and went on to help write Venezuela's new constitution (which gives indigenous the right to reclaim some of their lands, among other things). They pass out a miniaturized version of their new constitution (a tiny little blue book) to all and sundry in Venezuela. I have a copy of it on my desk (from a friend who attended the recent World Social Forum). It's an ikon to the Venezuelans--the means by which they have begun to right the wrongs of centuries.
So, Humala is in this tradition--indigenous; part of the army, which in Peru, Venezuela and other L/A countries is much more grass roots than we realize (a lot of poor people in the army, means of training and advancement; close to local communities); was tempted by vast injustice to take up arms against it, but chose the peaceful path.
It was of Humala's campaign for president of Peru that Evo Morales recently said: "The time of the people has come."
It is difficult to put labels on these leaders--and on the many leftists who have come to power throughout Latin America. For one thing, it's a great big place. Socialist and leftist don't quite do it. They are creating something new, and it is a complex set of ideas, which does not exclude capitalism (in its less predatory form (business, trade, financing of useful projects), but which includes a large component of reversing injustice, and of throwing off "neo-liberalism" (associated with the US, the IMF, the World Bank, and global corporate predators--who extract resources and labor, and inflict onerous loans with terrible conditions, like ending social programs), establishing self-determination, and regional cooperation, empowerment of the vast poor populations, and bringing to an end the long history of US interference (the worst of which has been death squads against leftists and humanitarians, assassinations of good leaders, and the installation of vicious dictators).
Peaceful revolutionary comes to mind.
When Morales was elected in Bolivia, Chavez presented him with Simon Bolivar's sword. Bolivia is named after Bolivar--the 19th century aristocratic, visionary revolutionary, and freer of the slaves, who liberated several South America countries from Spanish rule. His vision was of a united, and free and independent South America.
The key to THIS revolution, however, is not the sword. It is TRANSPARENT elections. (U.S. voters, take note!)
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