About this episode
Moderate right-winger, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, will be the new president of Bolivia after elections last Sunday. He's the son of a former president and he beat another former president, a more extreme right-winger, Tuto Quiroga, in the second and conclusive round of voting. His victory marks the end to almost twenty years in office by the left of centre Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party, led for much of that time by Bolivia's first indigenous leader, Evo Morales. Morales is currently holed up in the coca leaf Chapare region avoiding arrest on charges of statutory rape - sex with a 15-year-old girl. He denies the charge, saying it's politically motivated. His party was practically wiped out in the first round of voting - its candidate receiving just 3% of the vote, its share of seats in Congress reduced from more than 70 to just two. So after all the gains made by MAS - a voice for indigenous people, nationalisation of oil and gas companies, massive investment in infrastructure - will they disappear from the political landscape? And what did they do wrong for the Bolivian electorate to desert them in such numbers? Joe and Daniel, who have both visited Bolivia many times over the years, discuss all of that, plus mountain-climbing cholitas, Nazi torturers, coca leaves and llamas. Oh no! They forgot the llamas.
