20060104
      With its recent election of a Marxist coca farmer as its president, Bolivia enters the ranks of nations that bear watching in 2006. In making such a choice, the people of Bolivia join a growing number of nations in South America that seem to be veering toward Marxist, totalitarian regimes.
         In truth, one must wonder how transparent and fair the election of Evo Morales was in the face of Bolivia’s rampant poverty and illiteracy. One can guess that many Bolivians saw an indigenous face promising to reform the government and help the poor and to do so by standing against the rich, especially the US and the West.
         What those voters fail to realize is that such antagonism threatens what little hope a nation like Bolivia has. With the election of Evo Morales comes the threat of reduced or ended US aid, reduction of foreign investment, and the departure of the wealth common in such instances. With such reductions come the loss of GDP and tax revenue that nations like Bolivia must have to survive.
         The election of Morales, however, should not come as a surprise, because it comes on the heels of decades of poor foreign policy and failed economic strategies. This is not to say that the US and the West are to blame, but what else can be expected from nations that see themselves as being taken advantage of while those taking advantage live a life most Bolivians cannot imagine?
         Ultimately, the election of Evo Morales means that the US is now faced with a problem in South America it cannot ignore. Along with Cuba and Venezuela, the people of Bolivia join the ranks of those who stand defiantly against the US and demand to be treated like equals. If we ignore this demand, we are likely to face the development of the same kind of resentment that fuels the growing and ongoing influence of totalitarian radical Islam in the Near and Far East, and the last thing the US and the West need right now is more enemies.
         The solution to this problem is simple, in form at least, and takes the form of the solution that also applies to the War on Terror. In order to stem the steady march of the people of South America toward Marxism, the US and the West must meet that march with the development of capitalism and republican democracy. The best way to achieve such a thing is by the direct investment of Western capital into the businesses, industries, and infrastructure that will inevitably lead to an improvement in the standard of living in those countries and greater economic and political stability in the world.
         In the mean time, the new political climate in Bolivia bears close watching.
DLH
