";s:4:"text";s:4255:" "The problems in Bolivia arose, unfortunately, from the same problems that you see in Nicaragua and Venezuela, in Honduras and elsewhere where individuals decide that it's more important to stay in power than to follow democratic norms and the rule of law," he explains. Morales argues that voters should give him that margin and let him finish a job he started nearly 14 years ago. He brought political stability, while his decision to partially nationalize the natural gas industry helped make Bolivia's economy one of the fastest growing in Latin America. But this might be the only time in Bolivian military history that the military is on the right side for once," said Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian political scientist at Florida International University.Morales ran for a fourth term after refusing to accept the results of a referendum that upheld term limits for the president - restrictions thrown out by a top court that critics contend was stacked in his favor.His flight from the country was a dramatic fall for the llama shepherd from the Bolivian highlands and former coca growers' union leader who as president helped lift millions out poverty, increased social rights and presided over nearly 14 years of stability and high economic growth in South America's poorest country. Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.Michael Shifter, head of the Washington-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, warned that Bolivia's polarization needs to healed by new leadership.Anti-Morales demonstrators in downtown La Paz set tires and other barricades on fire as other people went onto their rooftops to yell, "Evo, murderer!" Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced that he is leaving for Mexico, which offered him asylum.
"The result is almost inevitably a turn toward authoritarian practices, and unfortunately, also usually [a] turn toward corruption. How Evo Morales Made Bolivia A Better Place ... Before He Fled The Country Before He Fled The Country by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento NPR Dec. 3, 2019 1:59 p.m. "Academics and the press have been very critical of the Bolivian military.