Bolivian President reverts to Andean religion, shuns church ceremony
Bolivian President reverts to Andean religion, shuns church ceremony
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-01-21T191011Z_01_N21262912_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BOLIVIA.xml&archived=False
By Helen Popper
TIWANAKU, Bolivia
Sat Jan 21, 2006
At the sacred ruins of a powerful pre-Inca civilisation, a colourfully clad Evo Morales sought the spiritual energy and blessings of his Andean ancestors on Saturday, the eve of his inauguration as Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The 46-year-old Aymara Indian walked a path, which had been swept with coca leaves, that travelled among Tiwanaku's pyramids and temples, dating from 700 AD, in the company of spiritual leaders.
They dressed him in a red tunic like the ones used by the priests of Tiwanaku 1,000 years ago and a four-cornered cap and bestowed on him a staff of command representing the 36 nationalities of Bolivia's indigenous majority.
Amid shouts of "Jallalla Evo" (Long live Evo), the leaders performed rituals to energise the president-elect and together they made offerings to Pachamama, Mother Earth, to thank her for the victory.
Morales had gone to Tiwanaku to pray to Pachamama before the December 18 elections, in which the leftist won a surprisingly high 54 percent of the vote in Bolivia, the poorest country in South America.
Some 10,000 Bolivians from all over the country descended on the revered ruins, the cradle of the Aymara people located 40 miles (70 km) from the capital, La Paz, and 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) above sea level.
"Today begins a new era for the native peoples of the world," Morales told the crowd in Spanish, urging his followers to help "end the colonial state and the neo-liberal model."
The ritual was a mixture of Andean tradition and modern improvisation since the white elite has ruled Bolivia, a country of 9.4 million today, since the Spanish arrived 500 years ago.
Morales, a llama herder in boyhood who rose to prominence as leader of the coca farmers, will be sworn in on Sunday in Congress with an unprecedented 12 heads of state in attendance.
'I WILL BE MILLIONS'
Tiwanaku is considered to be the greatest megalithic architectural achievement of pre-Inca South America, home to 20,000 inhabitants at its height. It melted into obscurity around 1200 AD.
At dawn, under the heavy grey skies of the Andean highlands, Morales's followers protected themselves in the multicoloured indigenous flag, the ubiquitous Wiphala, and blue scarves of his Socialist party. Community leaders identifiable by their red ponchos provided the first ring of security.
After years of turmoil and protests that toppled two presidents, hope for change fuelled the festive atmosphere.
"There is so much poverty in Bolivia and before there was not much chance of change," said La Paz engineering student Juan Jimachi. "Even the rich people support Evo. He cannot betray us because he is one of us."
Despite centuries of oppression, only in recent years has, Bolivia's indigenous majority, made up mainly of Aymara, Quechua and Guarani nations, organised itself politically.
Morales rose to prominence among the indigenous with his coca growers' protests against a U.S-funded war on drugs and eradication of the coca crop, the raw material used to make cocaine.
In the 18th century during Spain's colonial rule of mineral-rich Bolivia, a defeated Aymara leader, Tupac Katari, predicted: "You only kill me, but I will return and I will be millions."
But the "original" citizens, and even Morales himself, are amazed that Tupac Katari's prophecy has come true.
"What we are seeing now is something that we never could have imagined," said Waldo Wilcarani, director of the brass band for the city of Oruro in which Morales used to play the trumpet.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-01-21T191011Z_01_N21262912_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BOLIVIA.xml&archived=False
By Helen Popper
TIWANAKU, Bolivia
Sat Jan 21, 2006
At the sacred ruins of a powerful pre-Inca civilisation, a colourfully clad Evo Morales sought the spiritual energy and blessings of his Andean ancestors on Saturday, the eve of his inauguration as Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The 46-year-old Aymara Indian walked a path, which had been swept with coca leaves, that travelled among Tiwanaku's pyramids and temples, dating from 700 AD, in the company of spiritual leaders.
They dressed him in a red tunic like the ones used by the priests of Tiwanaku 1,000 years ago and a four-cornered cap and bestowed on him a staff of command representing the 36 nationalities of Bolivia's indigenous majority.
Amid shouts of "Jallalla Evo" (Long live Evo), the leaders performed rituals to energise the president-elect and together they made offerings to Pachamama, Mother Earth, to thank her for the victory.
Morales had gone to Tiwanaku to pray to Pachamama before the December 18 elections, in which the leftist won a surprisingly high 54 percent of the vote in Bolivia, the poorest country in South America.
Some 10,000 Bolivians from all over the country descended on the revered ruins, the cradle of the Aymara people located 40 miles (70 km) from the capital, La Paz, and 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) above sea level.
"Today begins a new era for the native peoples of the world," Morales told the crowd in Spanish, urging his followers to help "end the colonial state and the neo-liberal model."
The ritual was a mixture of Andean tradition and modern improvisation since the white elite has ruled Bolivia, a country of 9.4 million today, since the Spanish arrived 500 years ago.
Morales, a llama herder in boyhood who rose to prominence as leader of the coca farmers, will be sworn in on Sunday in Congress with an unprecedented 12 heads of state in attendance.
'I WILL BE MILLIONS'
Tiwanaku is considered to be the greatest megalithic architectural achievement of pre-Inca South America, home to 20,000 inhabitants at its height. It melted into obscurity around 1200 AD.
At dawn, under the heavy grey skies of the Andean highlands, Morales's followers protected themselves in the multicoloured indigenous flag, the ubiquitous Wiphala, and blue scarves of his Socialist party. Community leaders identifiable by their red ponchos provided the first ring of security.
After years of turmoil and protests that toppled two presidents, hope for change fuelled the festive atmosphere.
"There is so much poverty in Bolivia and before there was not much chance of change," said La Paz engineering student Juan Jimachi. "Even the rich people support Evo. He cannot betray us because he is one of us."
Despite centuries of oppression, only in recent years has, Bolivia's indigenous majority, made up mainly of Aymara, Quechua and Guarani nations, organised itself politically.
Morales rose to prominence among the indigenous with his coca growers' protests against a U.S-funded war on drugs and eradication of the coca crop, the raw material used to make cocaine.
In the 18th century during Spain's colonial rule of mineral-rich Bolivia, a defeated Aymara leader, Tupac Katari, predicted: "You only kill me, but I will return and I will be millions."
But the "original" citizens, and even Morales himself, are amazed that Tupac Katari's prophecy has come true.
"What we are seeing now is something that we never could have imagined," said Waldo Wilcarani, director of the brass band for the city of Oruro in which Morales used to play the trumpet.
posted by Prasad at
8:47 AM
