You can believe that Morales is for his people or for creating another petty dictatorship or not, but here’s an interesting interview:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/958A1E6C-FC0F-4FE1-8264-984481C03C31.htm
Here’s my filtered excerpts:
I’ve been surprised to hear you speak very often about racism, do you still feel discriminated against, even now that you are president of Bolivia?
As a trade union leader and leader of peasant movements, I witnessed and had to endure racism. And I thought that once I was in the presidency that would stop. But the racism from the groups I have mentioned has only increased.
The things that some opposition groups and leaders are saying against the indigenous movement are increasingly more radical. For example, the governor of Santa Cruz referred to President Hugo Chavez [of Venezuela] as the chief monkey, meaning that the other monkey, the other ape, was Evo Morales.
To think that in this new millennium we can be referred to as animals is unacceptable. But it’s the colonial mentality of these people, who cannot accept that the indigenous people have the same rights as any other Bolivian in this country.
But there are people, though, who do not consider themselves indigenous, who consider themselves mestizos, of European descent, who accuse you of actually practicing reverse racism, of promoting hatred amongst different races rather than governing for all Bolivians. What do you say to that?
It seems that it’s a crime to seek social justice [and] equality among all Bolivians. Historically those who have been most abandoned have been the peasants and if you work to help them you are accused of being racist.
Our economic policies are for every Bolivian, not just for one sector. But if we do not resolve the problem of the indigenous people, who make up the majority of the population, it is impossible to think that there will be social justice in our country.
So each and every one of us should seek to repair the damage done over so many years … and so now, it’s the racists who are accusing us of practicing racism.
and:
You recently said that the United States government was pushing to try to turn Bolivia into a kind of Kosovo. What proof do you have of that?
First the American congressmen that visited me recently asked me to support that division of Kosovo. It’s impossible that we can support the division of a country. Secondly, the conspiracy against my government is headed by the US ambassador.
USAID, with funds that come American tax payers, who think they are helping the Bolivian people, is using the money in a dirty campaign against my government and especially against me. They meet with NGOs and other groups here, always with the intention of conspiring. They offer them money on condition that they take part in the campaign against Evo Morales.
The mayor of a city, who recently visited me, told me he was offered money by the USAID agency to run as an opposition congressman. They even offered to pay for his campaign.
And the mayor told me that the people who work for the US agency go from house to house telling people that if they get rid of Evo Morales, they will have more money. If we wanted to document this we could. We are going to present the documents to prove this to the US Congress.
This is exactly the same problem we have in the United States, as the ultra wealthy and their lackeys in the top levels of both parties and media hierarchies try to transform our country into a feudal kingdom. The will of justice and equality is a tidal force that cannot be stopped. Let Bolivia be an example of the complex and hard work it takes for a society to mature and recognize we all have a share in our lands, just by right of birth. No one should be elevated, nor should any one be denigrated.
