7, eight slates of candidates were officially recognized, but the campaign will be dominated by three--the governing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), headed by Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera; the ultraright, headed by Manfred Reyes Villa, a former Army captain who served during a de facto government and is accused of crimes against humanity, and his running mate, former Pando governor Leopoldo Fernandez, jailed for alleged responsibility in a massacre of campesinos; and the right, led by Samuel Doria Molina, a powerful cement magnate.
Embassy in Bolivia last year revealed a USAID-sponsored "political party reform project" to "help build moderate, prodemocracy political parties that can serve as a counterweight to the radical MAS or its successors" (MAS stands for Movimiento al Socialismo, the party to which Morales belongs.
Evo Morales of the leftist party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) won the presidential election with an absolute majority of 51%, according to unofficial results.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has reacted angrily to revelations that there was corruption among members of his Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) in the setup of contracts to extract the country's large natural-gas reserves.
He appeared to intervene in Bolivian politics by warning that if voters elected Evo Morales of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) in the June 2002 presidential election, the US might cut normal relations with that country (see NotiSur, 2002-08-09).
Members of the ruling Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party, which holds 137 seats in the assembly, have butted heads with the party's chief rival, the right-wing Poder Democratico y Social (Podemos) party, since sessions began Aug.
The government named Carlos Villegas, former minister of planning and a loyalist in Morales' Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), to head the effort to exert more control of foreign oil and gas facilities, although some critics regarded his role as exerting less control as the president needed help in international negotiations.
