BOLIVIA SUFFERS UNDER MORALES

Re Jim Shultz's Nov. 8 letter Evo Morales negotiated: The letter was
a response to Roger Noriega's Nov. 5 Other Views article, No crime,
no punishment, on Bolivia. The letter writer says that Bolivian
president Evo Morales' first act after losing the elections in 2002
was not to encourage "violent protests but to sit down with the new
president for cordial negotiations over the complex coca issue."

This was not the case. As Noriega correctly stated, Morales rose to
power after conducting a mob-style movement to topple a
democratically elected government using terror tactics.

The events of October, 2003, included dozens of road blockades --
through which not even ambulances were allowed to pass -- several
hostage-takings, ambushed civilians, armed attacks on military
headquarters, and systematic looting in El Alto where people were
ordered to participate in "revolutionary actions" or face Shining
Path-style punishment. Civilians did die in the confrontations, but
so did soldiers and police trying to restore order and protect innocent people.

Shultz calls the coca issue complex. Actually, it is quite simple.
Coca leaves are the essential ingredient for cocaine production.
Morales, now president and leader of the coca-leaf producers union,
has openly encouraged coca cultivation, even in national parks.

His economic policies and harsh rhetoric have driven investors out of
the country, triggered the first double-digit inflation in decades
and driven almost one million citizens out of the country.

By following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, Morales has divided Bolivian society and
exacerbated racial, social and regional differences to the point that
no week passes without violent clashes.

Luis Eduardo Siles Perez, former congressman

Republic of Bolivia, La Paz, Bolivia