Bolivia's President Morales Promises Houses For Newlyweds

[subsuelo]

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has promised each pair of newlyweds a house, under a program launched by his populist government, which faces elections in December, the newspaper La Razon reported Sunday.

"To every couple who marries, the state has to give them a house. That will be our program and the government is obliged to meet this demand," Morales was quoted as saying.

... Morales reminded voters of the social policies his government has undertaken since he assumed office in January 2006.
They include bonuses for school age children, for Bolivians over the age of 60 and for pregnant women.

The state-run National Institute of Statistics estimated in 2005 that 22,000 couples marry in Bolivia each year.

http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/actualite/bolivia-s-president-morales-promises-houses-for-newlyweds-712533">read more

[Downwinder]

1. Plus the strongest economy in the Americas. n/t

[rabs]

2. In Bolivia, water as a human right

There was a story on Friday where the Evo government has ordered up to a 50 percent reduction in the rates to connect to potable water and sewer lines in El Alto, the sprawling poor area above La Paz.

Reasoning is that the poor do not have enough money to connect to those services, and water is regarded as a human right in today's Bolivia.

Some of you may recall when Bechtel skyrocketed water rates and tried to tax rainwater in Cochabamba several years ago. That was the Boliva of then, now Evo's Bolivia says if the people need water, they will have water.

Too bad stories like this rarely make the English-language media here in the States.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Wonderful. Is that area the one known as "El Alto?" I've heard there is a huge city

above La Paz, which seems almost impossible, considering how high La Paz is!

Not surprised about your comments on no publicity for these big steps for Bolivia. They hated Morales from even before he was elected. I remember reading when Rumsfeld learned Morales was a certain winner in the coming election he made arrangements behind the sitting President of Bolivia's back with the superior officers in his military to turn over the (sams) missiles they had bought from China:

Furore as US destroys Bolivia-bound missiles

sent by Simon McGuinness

Once again the USA reveals its sensitivity to its neighbour's possession
of surface-to-air missiles. The currently unfolding story of the Iraqi
resistance's ability to deny US control of the skys over Iraq by the use
of such missiles must highlight the need for such weapons in any country
wishing to repel a potential US invasion.

Every invading army relies on continuous resupply of its forces; land
based resupply convoys are easily identified and attacked so the
military fall back on helicopters for resupply missions. These are
rendered ineffective in the presence of surface-to-air missiles. It was
the provision (by the CIA) of SAMs to the Taliban Mujahideen that
resulted in the defeat of the Soviet army in Afghanistan. The IRA's
acquisition (but non-use, at least in Ireland) of surface-to-air
missiles was the turning point in the British military campaign in
northern Ireland.

The message is clear: if you want to oust a democratically elected
government and install a US puppet, make sure you decommission their
surface-to-air missiles first. On the other hand, if you want to deter
a US invasion the best weapon is clearly a nuclear missile (during the
Cold War it used to be good enough just to have a friend who had a
nuclear missile).-SMcG]

Reuters via The Irish Times - January 19, 2006

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2006/0119/1134117236159.html

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Bolivia's Defense Chiefs Ousted in Missile Scandal
Reuters
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page A11


LA PAZ, Bolivia, Jan. 18 -- A scandal in Bolivia over surface-to-air missiles prompted the defense minister's resignation and the army chief's dismissal Tuesday, plunging the military into a political crisis days before socialist president-elect Evo Morales is to be sworn into office.

The outgoing interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, said he had accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Gonzalo Mendez, and fired Gen. Marcelo Antezana over apparent irregularities in the destruction in the United States of a batch of Chinese-made missiles in October.

"I have relieved the commander of the army of his duties and accepted the defense minister's resignation," Rodriguez told reporters after a cabinet meeting Tuesday.

At the height of campaigning for last month's presidential elections, Morales denounced the destruction of the 28 to 30 Chinese HN-5 shoulder-fired missiles, the only arms of their kind in the military's arsenal.

Antezana, the army chief, told reporters that Washington initiated the drive to destroy the missiles because it feared Morales would win the presidency of the South American country.

He later retracted his remarks.

Morales, who will be sworn into office Sunday, has lodged a legal complaint over the transfer, accusing the president of "putting Bolivia under foreign domination."

Rodriguez said that he had authorized the destruction of the missiles, but not their transfer to the United States.

Morales, leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party, has emerged as one of Latin America's strongest critics of the Bush administration. He opposes a U.S.-promoted hemispheric trade pact, arguing that it disproportionately benefits the wealthy, and opposes U.S. efforts to eradicate coca plants.

Street protests led by Bolivia's Indian majority have toppled two Bolivian presidents in the past two years, and helped to propel Morales to a sweeping election victory. His supporters see Morales -- who will be the nation's first indigenous president -- as a chance to reverse centuries of exploitation by foreign governments and multinational corporations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011800124.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~
They've tried to make his life miserable at every turn, to thwart any chance of his success, and they will probably never acknowledge what the rest of the world would only say is absolutely splended movement forward. It's a far different picture than anything accomplished by the Presidents who came before him.

The people of Bolivia have a phenomenal spirit and courage. They have forged a strength which is to be respected. They are far stronger, better people than the unprincipled scum who've controlled their government all these long years.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Revolutionary idea! He's producing miracles to young Bolivians, bringing in a whole new age

Imagine, new, safe quarters to start their lives together.

Hope the best for this program, hope to hear it's going to be completely funded, and made real.