In a speech before thousands of indigenous persons from all corners of Bolivia’s diverse landscape, natives from at least 12 countries of the Americas (Abya Yala), representatives of persons of European descent, national government officials, and special guests, Morales stunned the crowd with a message in three languages, followed by a ritual in the four cardinal points of the temple of Kalasasaya, ending with an impassioned defense of the balance of nature.
*“From this point, one thousand years on, a new light is born… a light of hope for the people of Bolivia and for humanity,”* he stated, adorned in a white robe of llama wool, a symbol of communication to native Bolivians.
Morales argued that the new ray of hope is emerging from the peoples who never forgot their ancestors, *“never forgetting how to live in complementarity, in solidarity, and especially in harmony with Mother Earth.”*
In his view, the thousand-year-old energy of the temple of Kalasasaya (meaning stone, or strong foot, in Aymara) has always driven the indigenous peoples to fight for their rights and for inclusion.
*“The peoples of the Earth must always face capitalism standing firmly on their feet, never bowing on their knees. This has been a thousand-year long struggle for our ancestors,”* he urged.
In summary, he revealed that in the four years of his first term his inspiration for service to the people shifted towards three guiding principles of the Andean world, its greatest heritage: Ama Sua (don’t lie), Ama Kella (don’t steal) and Ama Llulla (don’t be weak) and asked Bolivians to also live by these guiding principles of their ancient civilization.
However, he did admit the difficulty involved in eradicating the after-effects of the colonial state, the most grievous of which he identified as corruption.
A colonial state that permitted constant plundering of our Natural Resources, which always discriminated against native peoples, *“that has always looked on us as savages, as animals,”* he added.
*“I feel that we are making progress in changing the course of our beloved country’s dark history. Today, for a second time, I am here in this sacred place, once again at the request of the people of Bolivia. A single president for two States”,* he declared, alluding to the colonial state, which he says has ended with his second term, and the Multinational State, being born at that very moment.
*“One State dies and another is born, a colonial state turns into a multinational state, arriving with the promise of great hope for the people of the world,”* he affirmed.
The head of state said that in this new millennium, it is important to defend the rights of Mother Earth, even before Human Rights, and he promised that his policies in his new term would once again serve the people in the philosophy of ““living well”*, which is catching on throughout the world. Morales will be sworn in on Friday in the Multinational Legislative Assembly to his second term, which will run until 2015.
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*(Translation provided by Patrick C. Yancey)*
