Inauguration Day For Morales

This blog's favorite politician (at least in the Western Hemisphere), Evo Morales, will be sworn today as Bolivia's first Indian president.

To many Bolivians, the former coca farmer who will officially be sworn into office Sunday represents the overdue ascension of a long-oppressed indigenous majority. To some South American neighbors, he symbolizes a new, unified generation of leaders emphasizing regional independence from the United States. And in Washington, some view him as a threat to regional stability and a potential roadblock to U.S. interests, including anti-drug programs and efforts to institute a hemispheric trade pact.

Morales will now have to walk a tightrope without a net:

Morales' words have generally been measured and non-inflammatory since the election: On coca eradication, he recently suggested a willingness to accept current production limits pending a study on the market for legal coca, which can be chewed as a stimulant and is used in traditional medicines. He has continued to call for the nationalization of the nation's oil and natural gas reserves, but he soothed concerns of international investors by promising not to seize foreign assets. On trade, he suggested to reporters this week that he doesn't completely rule out the idea of free trade agreement between the United States and the Andean region.

When you start talking about "expropriating the expropriators", that's when things start getting dicey. The royal "we" at Effwit wishes only good things for this brave soul.