Busy weekend for Us *News* July 2nd- Bolivians Vote

We had a busy weekend from which still trying to recover. Saturday we drove up to Modesto, CA for Jer's step-grandson's 3rd birthday party. The drive up Hwy 99 is one of my favorites. By the time we arrived it was over 90 degrees. We had a good time, ate rather bland pizza and drank lots of sode.
Linds & I played the driving game that always gives me vertigo, and we watched him open piles of gifts.
It was nice to meet everyone from both sides of their family together in one place and this is a first where we were all there at the same time.
On the return our Wrangler overheated due to a collapsed radiater hose...easily fixed.
We saw a fatality accident which really shook us up. As we drove past the burning vehicle we sad a fella who might not have made it lying face down along side the road.
All of us were sunburnt at some level and it was good to return to our lavishly cool pools water.

Bolivians Share Coca leaves in Celebration

This story caught my eye. Notice the baggie of green leaves to the left. It's a bag of coca leaves being passed around in a celebration for Eva Morales who hopes to empower the poor majority in the upcoming local elections.

Of course these folks have had 'coka' in their country for ever and it is traditional for them to chew the leaves as it has been over the past several centuries, at least.
I look at these beautiful people and thoughts of how they were exploited by violent money hungry consumerism and hope this isn't just another version of it.
Read on...

Slideshow-
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/sc/062006cocaproduction/p:7

Full Story-
Bolivians vote on reform and regional autonomy

By Helen Popper Sun Jul 2, 1:16 PM ET

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivians will elect a national assembly on Sunday to rewrite the constitution, a project President Evo Morales says will cement his leftist reforms and empower the poor, indigenous majority.
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Constitutional reform was a key election promise of coca farmer Morales, who took office as the South American country's first indigenous president in January vowing to end 500 years of domination by a white elite.

"Today is the start of Bolivia's transformation," he told journalists, after voting in his home village in the coca-farming Chapare region soon after polling stations opened.

"These democratic changes will foster equality, liberate the people and all the natural resources," said Morales, who nationalized the gas- and mineral-rich country's energy industry two months ago.

Sunday's ballot, which also includes a referendum on greater regional autonomy, is Morales' first electoral test and polls suggested his party would win a majority in the assembly.

He has predicted it would win 70 percent of the seats, which he said would allow "the consolidation of change" including further increasing state control of natural resources and promoting indigenous rights.

But it was the referendum on giving the country's nine regions greater autonomy from central government that generated the most debate in a campaign that produced few concrete proposals and largely failed to capture voters' imagination.

Morales has backed a "no" vote in the referendum, which analysts say could put him on a collision course with the powerful pro-autonomy lobby of wealthy Santa Cruz province, an opposition stronghold.

A strong vote in favor of autonomy is seen as likely in the lowland, agricultural region, but Morales has said the assembly -- which his party is expected to dominate -- will ultimately decide what form autonomy takes.

Early results are expected from 6 p.m. (2200 GMT).

RADICAL REFORMS

Eighty-one percent of Bolivians support Morales, according to a Mori poll in the weekly La Epoca last week, and critics fear his government will seek to stamp radical reforms on the constitution.

Opposition parties have sought to exploit fears about the influence of Morales' ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Other government proposals include giving indigenous communities the right to manage their land and resources and administer local government following their traditions.

Bolivia's constitution has undergone dozens of reforms, but this is the first time a reform assembly is to be directly elected. The 255-member assembly will sit in the city of Sucre, where Bolivian independence was declared in 1825.

Constitutional reform is a key demand of the social groups that toppled two governments from 2003 to 2005 amid violence in Bolivia, which has been dominated by a European-descended elite since the Spanish arrived 500 years ago.

The process is likely to be watched by indigenous groups in neighboring Peru and Ecuador seeking similar reforms.

Morales, an Aymara Indian, says rewriting the constitution will mark a new beginning for Bolivia and many of his supporters are optimistic.

"This is a historic day," said Concepcion Hilario, a resident of the rebellious city of El Alto, saying the election was a chance for the country to put its recent history of bloody protest in the past.

(With additional reporting by Mario Roque in El Alto)