Evo Morales: "If the Bolivian people ask us for socialism, we will deepen towards socialism”

La Paz – President of Bolivia Evo Morales announced yesterday that he would “deepen” the process towards socialism in his country at the request of the population and pointed out that he now understood the slogan “homeland or death” that he said he first heard from his colleague and firm ally in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

The president, who celebrated two and a half years in this position and applies a policy of nationalisations of petroleum and service industries, affirmed that the decision to advance towards socialism came about due to a poll, although he did not reveal the origins of the poll.

“I was looking over a poll that came from overseas and the majority of the Bolivians propose socialism, I was left very impressed …. If the Bolivian people ask us for socialism, we will deepen towards socialism” said the president during the inauguration of an indigenous university in the Aymara town of Warisata.

Morales revealed that he now understood the harangue that he first heard from his political ally in Venezuela, who is known for proclaiming in public rallies “homeland or death”, and which has been repeated in Cuba since the 1960s.

“I use to here comrade Chavez say, homeland or death, I didn’t understand it, now I want us all to shout it every day, homeland or death” affirmed the president, who asked the students present to shout at the top of their voices “Homeland or death!”

According to him, experiences of collective property have been registered in Bolivian Andean populations, such as in the case of his home town of Isallavi, in the Oruro region, where he assured that “there is no private property” over cows and llamas.

Morales is one week out from facing a recall referendum

Translated from El Universal