Che Guevara, Coca & More: 5 Fascinating Facts About Bolivia Ahead of October Runoff

Asianet News English

With Bolivia’s historic runoff election approaching, the nation stands at a crossroads. Find out the 5 fascinating facts about Bolivia’s political landscape, from the powerful influence of coca farmers to the links to Che Guevara.

Transcript

00:00with no candidate having won outright general election in the south american nation of bolivia

00:18which was held on 17th of august has gone to a runoff the runoff elections between rodrigo

00:26pass perera and horge kerega are now scheduled for 19th of october as the country remains in the

00:34throes of a deep economic crisis here are the five key facts about the country

00:48with an altitude of about 12 000 feet the administrative capital la paz which has a

00:54population of nearly 2 million people is the highest capital city in the world visitors

01:01frequently suffer classic symptoms of altitude sickness including headaches fatigue nausea

01:08and shortness of breath souvenir shops at the airport in the neighboring city of el alto

01:13which is more than 4 000 meters above sea level sells small bottles of oxygen for those in need

01:29south america's longest serving president evo morales was the first indigenous bolivian to win the top

01:36office morales was a farmer of coca the main ingredient in cocaine he was elected in 2006

01:44and remained in power for nearly 14 years known to bolivians simply as emo he oversaw more than

01:51a decade of strong economic growth and dramatic poverty reduction but was forced to resign after

01:58seeking to extend his grip on power for a fourth term in 2019 morales who was barred from contesting

02:05elections because of term limits is now wanted on charges of trafficking a minor for allegedly

02:11fathering a child with a teenager while in office

02:26bolivia authorizes the cultivation and commercialization of coca for chewing tea making

02:32and religious rituals outgoing president louis has urged international institutions to remove the

02:39plant from the controlled substances list so that the products such as coca sweets and toothpaste can

02:46be exported currently bolivia permits the cultivation of 22 000 hectares of coca for legal national

02:54consumption the united nations office on drugs and crime estimates that the real figures are closer to

03:0131 000 hectares with part of the production going towards the global cocaine trade

03:15german war criminal klaus barbe was one of the many nazis who fled to south america after world war ii

03:22to dodge prosecution a recent investigation by german weekly dar spiegel revealed barbe who became an

03:28advisor to the bolivian dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s played a key role in the development of

03:35cocaine trafficking through his connections with a local drug lord klaus barbe was the former head of the

03:42official secret police force of nazi germany called gestapo in leon france he was eventually extradited

03:48to france in 1983 where he died in prison eight years later

04:03it was in bolivia in 1967 that ernesto jaguera icon of leftist revolutionary struggle and anti-capitalism

04:11led his last guerrilla campaign the bolivian army captured and executed

04:16the argentine national aged 39 in the southeastern village of la higuerra three decades later

04:23cheguera's remains were found in an unmarked mass grave and returned to cuba where he was buried with

04:30military honors

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