Evo's inauguration

Tomorrow (22 January) Evo Morales will be inaugurated for his second term as president of Bolivia. Today, there will be an indigenous ceremony held at the Kalasasaya temple at Tiwanaku, the pre-Inca Aymara site near Lake Titicaca. The presidents of Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela and Paraguay have confirmed their attendance at the inauguration. Leading the American delegation are Hilda Solis, the secretary of labor, and Maria Otero, the under-secretary of state for democracy and global affairs. Their presence is symbolic: Otero is a native of La Paz and the first Bolivian-American to serve in such a high office. She also is an expert in micro-finance. Solis specializes in environmental law and was the first Latina elected to the California Senate. Evo is the first indigenous Bolivian president, and has spoken a lot lately about saving Mother Earth, or Pacha Mama. He also is severely critical of the United States' efforts to promote democracy in his country and elsewhere around the region, and accuses the Yankees of involvement in plots and policies designed to topple him and to enforce U.S. hegemony in the western hemisphere. Also attending the ceremony will be John Creamer, who as charge d'affairs is the top U.S. diplomat in Bolivia. Creamer arrived after three years in Colombia, where he was very involved in that nation's 'war on drugs.'