In their first attempt to take power in 2002, Morales and the MAS designed a program that included the creation of a Constitutional Assembly to reform the Magna Carta, and the nationalization of hydrocarbons. In particular, the MAS didn’t want Tarijan gas to be sold to Chile since that neighbouring country wouldn’t agree to negotiate the restitution of access to the sea, the strip of Atacama that was seized from Bolivia as a result of the War of the Pacific, or the War of Saltpeter, in 1879.
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Presidential candidate 2002
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Four days before the elections, the American ambassador at the time, Manuel Rocha, a diplomat fond of interfering in the country’s internal affairs with politically oriented messages and for that reason nicknamed ‘the Viceroy’, permitted himself to remind Bolivians that if they elected “those who want Bolivia to return to being a major exporter of cocaine, they would endanger future aid from the United States.” The only thing this interference gained was more votes for Morales, who responded to the ambassador by thanking him publicly for his exhortation.
The results of the election for the candidate and his party were optimal, even astounding: of the presidential votes, Morales won 20.9%, 1.6% behind the winner, Sánchez de Lozada.
The MAS took 11.9% of the votes for parliamentary representatives, which translated into 27 members of parliament and eight senators, putting the MAS second behind the alliance between the MNR (National Revoultionary Movement) and the MBL (Free Bolivia Movement). The MAS broke into the party system with such force that it received the most votes in the highland departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí, in addition to its stronghold of Cochabamba.
Morales was also elected as a member of parliament, winning his seat with 81.3% of the votes in his riding.
“Proud of our culture, with our clothing and with our coca, for the first time in our history, peasants, indigenous people and original people entered the National Parliament.” |
