Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia
Evo Morales Ayma was born on October 26, 1959 in the township of Orinoko, Oruro province, to a large, poor family of Aymara Indian farmers. After serving in the army in 1978 and 1979, he emerged as a leader of a union of coca growers (cocaleros). While serving as chairman of the coordinating board of the country's six leading cocalero federations, Morales joined the Movement for Socialism political party in 1995 and soon became its leader.
Morales was elected to parliament in 1997. In December 2001, Morales had to surrender his MP credentials after his party shifted to a strategy of radical protest. However, this only increased his popularity. Morales ran for presidency in 2002, but lost by some 2% of the vote to the then favorite candidate, Gonsalo Sanches de Losada. Nevertheless, Morales received over 50% of the vote in the December 18, 2005 presidential elections, and was sworn in as president of Bolivia on January 22, 2006. He was re-elected to a second term on December 6, 2009, after his landslide victory in the first round (62.3% of votes).
