Bolivia's Longest-Serving President: Evo Morales' Tenure Explored

Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, served as the country's leader from 2006 to 2019. Morales, an Aymara, was born in 1959 in a small village in the Oruro Department of western Bolivia. He worked as a coca farmer and union organiser before entering electoral politics in 1995. Morales was first elected president in 2005, winning 54% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2009 and 2014, overseeing significant economic growth and poverty reduction. However, Morales' attempts to abolish presidential term limits led to controversy, and he resigned in 2019 amid protests over alleged election fraud.

Evo Morales was the first indigenous president of Bolivia

Evo Morales, born on October 26, 1959, is a Bolivian politician, trade unionist, and former cocalero activist. Morales served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019 and is widely regarded as the country's first indigenous president.

Morales was born in the small rural village of Isallawi in the western Oruro department of Bolivia. He is of Aymara descent, an indigenous nation with the fundamental principles of "Ama shua, ama llulla, ama quella", which translates to "Don't lie, don't steal and don't be lazy". Morales had a humble upbringing, working in agriculture and herding llamas from a young age. He received a basic education and later moved to the Chapare Province in 1978, where he grew coca and became a trade unionist.

Morales' political career began in the 1990s when he entered electoral politics. He was expelled from Congress in 2002 for encouraging anti-government protesters but came second in the 2002 presidential election that year. In 2005, Morales was elected president, winning 53.7% to 54% of the vote. He was the first president from Bolivia's indigenous population and worked to implement left-wing policies that focused on the legal protections and socioeconomic conditions of the country's previously marginalized indigenous communities.

During his presidency, Morales increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to fund social spending, combated illiteracy and poverty, and promoted racial and gender equality. He also reduced Bolivia's dependence on foreign entities like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Additionally, Morales' administration opposed the autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces and instituted a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state.

Morales served as president until 2019, when he resigned amid protests over alleged election fraud in the 2019 election. He attempted to run for president again in the 2025 election but was disqualified by the Bolivian Constitutional Court. Despite this, Morales remains a prominent figure in Bolivian politics and has expressed his desire to continue fighting for the rights and representation of the country's indigenous population.

Morales was born in 1959 in a small village called Isallawi

Evo Morales was born on 26 October 1959 in the small village of Isallawi in the Orinoca Canton, part of western Bolivia's Oruro Department. Morales was born to an Aymara family of subsistence farmers. Morales was one of seven children, but only he and two siblings, Esther and Hugo, survived past childhood. Morales' father, Dionisio Morales Choque, and his mother, Maria Ayma, were ethnic Aymara natives who worked as subsistence farmers.

As a child, Morales helped his family to plant and harvest crops and guard their herd of llamas and sheep. Morales also played football and, at the age of 13, he organised a community football team, becoming team captain. Within two years, he was elected training coach for the whole region, gaining early experience in leadership. Morales attended the local primary school in Isallawi and, at the age of 6, he spent six months in northern Argentina with his sister and father, Dionisio, who harvested sugar cane. Morales also briefly attended a Spanish-language school during this time.

Morales' family were forced to relocate to the Tropics of Cochabamba in the eastern lowlands after the agricultural devastation of the 1980 El Niño storm cycle. Morales' family set up home in the town of Villa 14 de Septiembre, El Chapare, and grew crops including coca, which is used in the production of cocaine but is also a traditional crop in the region. Morales joined the local football team and founded his own team, New Horizon, which proved victorious at the 2 August Central Tournament.

He was forced to resign in 2019 amid election fraud allegations

Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, was forced to resign in 2019 amid election fraud allegations. Morales had served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 until 2019.

Morales was first elected in 2005 and won a second term in 2009. In 2014, Morales stated that he would not stand for re-election in the 2014 general election. However, in 2013, a ruling by the Plurinational Constitutional Court allowed Morales to run for a third term. Morales won the election, but his claim to have won a fourth term in 2019 set off unrest.

The 2019 election was disputed, with Morales' opponents alleging fraud. The Organization of American States (OAS) found a "heap of observed irregularities" in the election and called for a new vote. Morales initially agreed to hold a new election, but the military chief, General Williams Kaliman, called on him to resign.

Morales resigned on November 10, 2019, stating that he wanted to stop the bloodshed from the election protests. He called his removal a "coup" and fled to Mexico, where he was granted political asylum.

The aftermath of Morales' resignation was tumultuous, with his successor, Jeanine Anez, facing charges of staging a coup. In 2020, Morales' former ally, Luis Arce, was elected president, and Morales returned to Bolivia. However, Morales has since fallen out with Arce, and in 2024, he called for an anti-government march, escalating political tensions in the country.

Morales was a trade unionist and a former cocalero activist

Evo Morales, the 65th president of Bolivia, was a trade unionist and a former cocalero activist. Morales was born in 1959 in a small rural village in the western Oruro department of Bolivia. Morales' family were farmers, and Morales helped them with farming from an early age. After completing his basic education and mandatory military service, Morales moved to the Chapare Province in 1978. There, he grew coca and became a trade unionist, rising to prominence in the campesino ("rural laborers") union. Morales campaigned against joint U.S.-Bolivian attempts to eradicate coca as part of the War on Drugs, denouncing these as an imperialist violation of indigenous Andean culture. Morales' involvement in anti-government direct action protests resulted in multiple arrests.

In the early 1980s, Morales became active in the regional coca-growers union and, in 1985, was elected the group's general secretary. Morales presented the coca leaf as a symbol of Andean culture that was under threat from the imperialist oppression of the United States. Morales argued that the United States should deal with their domestic cocaine abuse problems without interfering in Bolivia. Morales' activism led to multiple arrests and violent clashes with the authorities. In 1994, Morales was imprisoned for sedition and went on a hunger strike to protest his arrest.

In 1995, Morales began supporting the formation of a political wing for the sindicato social movement. In 1997, Morales was elected to Congress, and in 1998, he became the leader of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party. Morales' political career was marked by his support for the cocalero cause and his opposition to U.S. imperialism. Morales' socialist policies and his support for the previously marginalized indigenous population of Bolivia made him a popular leader. Morales served as the president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019.

He was the 65th president of Bolivia

Evo Morales was the 65th president of Bolivia. He was born in 1959 in a small rural village called Isallawi in the Bolivian Altiplano (high plain). Morales is of Aymara descent, an indigenous nation that follows the principles of "Ama shua, ama llulla, ama quella", which translates to "Don't lie, don't steal and don't be lazy". Morales worked in agriculture from a young age and was responsible for herding llamas. He also proved to be a talented soccer player.

Morales and his family were forced to leave their home in 1982 due to a severe drought and migrated to the Chapare Province in eastern Bolivia. Here, Morales joined a local union of coca growers and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the General Secretary of the Tropics Federation in 1985. In 1996, he became president of the Coordinating Committee of the Six Federations of the Tropics of Cochabamba.

Morales entered electoral politics in 1995 and was elected to Congress in 1997. He was expelled from Congress in 2002 by neo-liberal parties. However, in the 2002 elections, Morales' party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), gained 581,884 votes and elected 36 members to the National Congress. MAS became the leading political force in Bolivia after the municipal elections in December 2004.

In 2005, Morales was elected as the 65th president of Bolivia, winning 53.7% of the popular vote. He was the country's first indigenous president, and his victory was seen as a major step forward in the struggle for indigenous rights and independence from colonial rule. Morales' presidency focused on implementing left-wing policies, improving the socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's indigenous population, and reducing the country's dependence on foreign influence.

Morales served as president from 2006 to 2019. He was re-elected in 2009 and 2014 but faced controversy in 2019 when he ran for an unprecedented fourth term. The election was marred by allegations of fraud, and Morales ultimately resigned amid deadly protests. He fled the country but returned in 2020 after his ally Luis Arce won the presidency.

Morales has since announced his intention to run again for president in 2025, despite the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruling that he cannot seek re-election. This decision has been based on criteria from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which does not consider re-election a human right. Morales has denounced the ruling, claiming complicity among judges, the government, and the right wing in Bolivia.

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