Evo Morales No Che Guevara

Morales lacks the power base Castro and Guevara enjoyed in Cuba and thus may soon find himself quite limited in what he can accomplish. While Bolivia has the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere, together with sizeable oil reserves, actual revenues at present are limited. And they will remain so for the foreseeable future as the new government must renegotiate contracts with international energy companies and attract new foreign investment. In the meantime, Morales’ shaky power base will become even more precarious if he fails to deliver promised socioeconomic gains to his supporters. MAS remains a loose amalgam of competing social groups, all of which expect immediate gains from Morales’ election.