LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - In his diplomatic debut in Europe this week, leftist Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales has made waves fashionably as well as politically.
Morales, the first Indian elected president in Bolivia, unsettled many at home and abroad by breaking protocol and visiting Spanish King Juan Carlos wearing a striped, multicoloured sweater, local media said on Friday.
"Evo's attire sparks international controversy" ran the headline of daily La Razon, before describing criticism of his informal look in the Spanish media.
Morales, who herded llamas as a youngster before becoming a coca farmer, has shunned suits and ties during his world tour, favouring short-sleeved shirts, leather jackets and casual sweaters to greet the likes of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Many Bolivians think the 46-year-old bachelor is only staying true to his humble roots.
"He is sending the message that he is a modest man who wants to stay close to his indigenous people," Bolivian designer Beatriz Canedo Patino told Reuters.
Morales, who takes office on January 22, visited Venezuela and Cuba before crossing the Atlantic for the European leg of a tour that will also include China, South Africa and Brazil.
On Friday he was in fashion hotbed Paris.
"We should respect his wish not to wear a tie, although it would maybe be nice to see him wear something a bit more elegant," Canedo Patino said.
14 comments:
Isnt' there some sort of local bent to the sweater, like it's alpaca wool or something, that ads a bit of nationalistic pride to the perceived "defiance"?
its keepin it real... 100%...
its a tradtional style sweater made of alpaca... its like their national export... alpaca wool...
no, their national export is cocaine
no their national export is like cocaine
their national export is sweet, white, flaky cocaine. and this guy should know, since he was a coca farmer. come on, casual dress, leather jackets... who's ever bought blow from a guy in a tie??
yeah, i have a peruvian alpaca sweater, it's damn nice. to hell with euro clothing...
no way... its alpaca wool... and cocoa... chocolate comes from the andes... evo shoud kow because he was a cocoa farmer...
george lopez is president of bolivia?...
SHIT....I bought coke from that guy 2 weeks ago!
Not only was he like a coca farmer, but he was like the leader of Bolivia's cocaleros (coca-leaf growers) and like has promised to decriminalize coca growing... like...
he was a COCA farmer. not cocoa. that's one of the big things that our government isn't so into. they think (probably rightly) that he stands for the rights of his people to grow coca, when the US would rather it was erradicated. Read your own posted Reuters story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/international/americas/22bolivia.html?hp&ex=1137906000&en=5d97874e3d433f07&ei=5094&partner=homepage
While mostly vague on details, and recently moderating his tone, Mr. Morales promises to transform Bolivia. He has said he would "depenalize" cultivation of coca, the prime ingredient for cocaine, which Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and more than two decades trying to eradicate.
Nah, this time around Larry Wilcox is the mule...
Evo Morales is taking care of the natural resources of Bolivia, like oil. Norway did the same thing in the past. This is good for the bolivian people and bad for the petrol corporations.
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