In a video lasting just over 21 minutes, Morales detailed with figures and other data the results of 14 years at the head of the Bolivian government, a period in which he assured there were «more successes than errors.»
The first indigenous president in Bolivia’s history, who took office for the first time on January 22, 2006, compared 2005 development indicators with those of 2018, when he resigned because of a partial report by the Organization of American States (OAS) that questioned the results of the elections in which he was elected to a new term.
He recalled that during the neoliberal governments the Andean nation was the poorest and most unequal in South America, with basic services and natural resources privatized.
Then, his government received a country with a deep economic crisis, which later became the one with the highest growth in the continent.
He noted that the country’s Gross Domestic Product at the end of 2005 was 9.581 billion dollars, a figure that grew to 40.581 billion by the end of 2018, and the annual income per person tripled.
«On January 22, 2006, with the people in government, the first lights of dawn were seen after the long neoliberal night,» said Morales, a refugee in Argentina.
He recalled the challenges he had to take on in his government, such as the nationalization of resources, the restitution of rights, and achieving the country’s financial and economic independence.
«Before 2006 Bolivia was a republic where few people had everything and the majority lived in misery. With the new Constitution we recognize ourselves in the dignity of a Plurinational State. We are building political stability, economic growth, and social justice,» said the former president.
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