Evo Morales cuts his own salary in half

[MexAmLeft]

New Bolivian Leader Cuts Salary in Half Fri Jan 27, 12:12 PM ET



LA PAZ, Bolivia - New President Evo Morales cut his salary by more than half and ordered that no Cabinet minister collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings earmarked for hiring more public school teachers.


In one of the first decrees of his five-day-old administration, the leftist former street activist said his monthly salary would be 15,000 bolivianos, or the equivalent of about $1,700.

"I ask for (the ministers') understanding and efforts to try meet this demand, not for Evo but for the people," Morales said after a Thursday meeting with his Cabinet.

"We need 6,000 new teachers and there is only money for 2,200."

Morales had promised to cut the salary of the president and members of his party in half during the election campaign. His predecessor earned 34,900 bolivianos, or $3,900, a month.

Morales was inaugurated as Bolivia's first Indian president on Sunday following his landslide election win in December.

edit: Post a link to the news next time if possible.

Link. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060127/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bolivia_morales;_ylt=AkUC1Drc5LCUlgYZTAlncLlw24cA; _ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

by Fidelbrand.

[Valjean]

I saw this last night on BBC.
I think its awesome that this was one of his firsts acts in office. I mean, it goes to show that he really cares about the people.

[Fidelbrand]

Now, leaders of this kind is truly adorable.

Morales fucking RULES!!!

[Tekun]

Good first move
But I still reserve my judgement on him
I wanna see what he does in the first year of his presidency (hopefully a move towards socialism), then I'll let u know if I support him

As of right now, due to his promotion of Andean capitalism, Im not one of his supporters, though I do admire his popularity and bravery in defense of his ppl

[Abood]

What can i say? great move from a (potentially) great leader. i've supported him since i saw his inaugration, and thankfully, he has not disappointed me (so far).

to comrade Tekun:

As of right now, due to his promotion of Andean capitalism, Im not one of his supporters, though I do admire his popularity and bravery in defense of his ppl
what's Andean capitalism?!

[redchrisfalling]

I'm also going to reserve judgement but hat is an awesome first act.
If only we could get some leaders like that in north america where education is slideing down the slippery slope of beuracracy.

[People's Coalition]

Great job Morales, at least someone cares about their country's education system.

[Karl Marx's Camel]

Uh, he will still earn more than ten times as much as the common Bolivian.

His salary is now 1,875 dollar a month.

Average income per year in Bolivia: 960 dollars. And keep in mind that the few multi-billionaires put those numbers higher.

[ReD_ReBeL]

In one of his first decrees, the president pledged that his salary would be 15,000 bolivianos (£952) a month. The money saved will go into a public fund to hire more teachers.

"We need 6,000 new teachers and there is only money for 2,200," he said. Mr Morales's predecessor earned 34,900 bolivianos a month. Mr Morales was inaugurated as Bolivia's first Indian president on Sunday.

[bolshevik butcher]

This is a progressive act from a progressive leader. Sure, I agree that he isnt perfect, and I would much rather the Bolivian workers had taken power during their rebellion in 2005, however I think he is worth critically supporting and to just sit and sectarianally say he isnt a marxist or whatever your choasen idoelogy is, is exceedinly sectarian and immature.

[redstar2000]

Yet another "fan" thread.

Well, I'm lazy and have already written two recent responses so...

http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php...st&p=1292011095 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=45560&view=findpost&p=1292011095)

http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php...st&p=1292011146 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=45560&view=findpost&p=1292011146)

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/123.gif

[Tekun]

Originally posted by Socialist [email protected] 28 2006, 07:11 PM
to comrade Tekun:

As of right now, due to his promotion of Andean capitalism, Im not one of his supporters, though I do admire his popularity and bravery in defense of his ppl
what's Andean capitalism?!
Andean Capitalism, one of the reason's I reserve my support for Evo

http://www.internationalist.org/boliviaelections0512.html

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

what's Andean capitalism?!

That's what Morales hopes to establish. A 'Bolivian' version of capitalism. He (and his party) is (by his own admission) are not socialist, and they have repeatedly said 'Bolivia will still be capitalist in 100 years."

Don't worry though, the workers, peasants, and Indians of Bolivia have promised to overthrow him in three months if their demands aren't met.

Why Evo Morales is no answer (http://freepeoplesmovement.org/lib1a.html)
Bolivia: A revolution betrayed (http://freepeoplesmovement.org/fp13e.html)

[Karl Marx's Camel]

What are their demands? Nationalization of natural resources, and..?

[commiecrusader]

I didn't know that he wanted to make Bolivia capitalist. That is not a very pleasant revelation to me. I hope the people of Bolivia do overthrow him if he doesn't make significant changes towards socialism.

[Luís Henrique]

Sheer demagoguery. I am upset that people who consider themselves leftist can be so easily fooled by such nonsense. :blink:

Luís Henrique

[jaster]

thats truly good, i wish i could see more of that selfless behavior in america, not where a CEO makes 450 more then his blue collar employees

[Karl Marx's Camel]

But making some 15 times more than the average bolivian, is okay?