by the El Reportero’s news services
Evo Morales
President Evo Morales and the ruling leftwing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) claimed on Dec. 6 an overwhelming re-election victory. Exit polls showed him beating his closest competitor, Manfred Reyes Villa of the right-wing Plan Progreso para Bolivia-Convergencia Nacional (PPB-CN) by 63 percent to 28 percent in the presidential election.
Samuel Doria Medina of the centre-right Unidad Nacional (UN) trailed in with 6 percent. Morales not only triumphed in the presidential vote but also in the legislative contest. As Morales said in his victory speech, this gives his new government a mandate to continue implementing the new constitution, promulgated in February this year, which enshrines indigenous rights and provides for greater state control of the economy.
Nicaraguan lawmakers resist re-election of prez
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) President Daniel Ortega’s attempt to run for re-election has run into a setback in congress.
Lawmakers are refusing to recognize a Supreme Court decision that would allow Ortega to run again in 2011 by overturning bans on consecutive re-election and serving more than two terms.
The National Assembly approved a resolution Thursday to oppose the top court’s decision. Legislators say it is up to Nicaragua’s electoral commission to choose which branch of government to heed.
The electoral commission’s president says the Supreme Court’s ruling is fi nal. But he leaves the post in 2010 and lawmakers are betting his replacement will side with them.
Ortega was fi rst named president after Sandinista rebels toppled dictator An-
astasio Somoza in 1979.
MERCOSUR economy, foreign ministers on sessions
Foreign and economy ministers of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR)’s member countries start debates Monday in this capital, prior to the 38th Summit of this organization, taking place Dec. 8 here.
Head of State Tabare Vazquez will deliver the pro tempore presidency to his Argentinean peer Cristina Fernandez, in the presence of Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo, effective members of the bloc.
The Uruguayan leadership gave priority in these six months of mandate to the economic, trade, institutional areas, and external, political and social relation.
Venezuelan statesman Hugo Chavez stated that he will travel today to Montevideo, to attend the Mercosur Summit, “despite Venezuela’s entry to that bloc has not been approved yet.”
The Brazil model
Brazil’s spectacular recovery from the popping of the consumer boom in the US suggests that its economic policymakers have a better understanding of how to manage a major economy in the 21st Century than most of their neighbours. Elsewhere in the region, Chile also seems to be recovering well, while Bolivia and Uruguay have also weathered the storm.
Legitimacy of Lobo’s election in doubt as congress refuses to reinstate Zelaya
Two crucial votes took place in Honduras this week. The first, on Nov. 29, saw Pepe Lobo Sosa, the presidential candidate for the opposition Partido Nacional (PN), comfortably win election; the second, on Dec. 2, saw congress vote emphatically not to reinstate the ousted president Manuel Zelaya before Lobo’s investiture on 27 January. The second vote makes it very diffi cult for the majority of Latin American states and much of the international community to accept the legitimacy of the fi rst.
