Election Day!

The last few months have been full of political marches, signage, and propaganda. On October 12, presidential elections were held here in Bolivia. While the current president, Evo Morales, has technically already completed his maximum of two presidential terms, by a loophole, he was able to run for a third term. The loophole, if you're interested, is that during his time in power, the name of the country was changed - from the Republic of Bolivia to the Plurinational State of Bolivia, meaning that he has only completed one presidential term under the current Bolivia. ;)

Evo Morales has been in power since 2005. He is the first indigenous president of Bolivia. In past decades, the indigenous peoples of Bolivia have experienced a great amount of racism and discrimination. In many ways, Evo's presidency has led to much more pride among the indigenous and more awareness around this history of discrimination. Evo is very adamant about preserving the many distinct cultures of Bolivia. High school teachers are now required to study an indigenous language and students are now required to learn an indigenous language. Under Evo, there have also been some huge and success public works projects - residential gas service, new highways, and the world's largest public transit cable car system. I admittedly don't know much about the intricacies of his policies and politics. But Evo has accomplished was cool things over the years. Best of all, he has given the diverse peoples of Bolivia a renewed and deeper sense of pride in their unique cultural identities.

Election Day here in Bolivia is quite different than what I am used to experiencing in the USA. First of all, voting is absolutely required of all of the eligible population. If you do not show up to the polls, your bank accounts are frozen and you are not allowed to travel or do any kind of government paperwork. There's probably a fine involved as well. From what I hear, you are allowed to turn in a blank ballot, but you have to turn in something. On Election Day, the entire country shuts down in a sense. There is no public transportation and you are not allowed to use any personal vehicles without special permission. All voters must walk to their polling location. Also, the sale and consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited. Upon voting, each voter receives a voter ID card that they must carry around with them and present with their ID for the following three months. Without this proof of voting, life becomes quite difficult.

Going into the elections, almost everyone was certain that Evo would come out victorious. His victory was so widely expected that very few competitors even bothered to run against him. On Election Day, I wondered if our certainty here in La Paz was a little naive. While he is widely supported here in the department of La Paz, Evo has historically been very unpopular in other parts of the country. By the afternoon of voting day, it was clear that he was way ahead and had easily clenched the victory. Evo won 8 of the 9 departments and came out with over 60% of the total votes.

Whether you love him or not, the reality is that Evo will be the president of Bolivia for another 5 years. Some sections of the evangelical church are fed up with how he has treated the church and faith-based organizations. His strong support of traditional cultures and religious practices has often come off as opposition toward the evangelical church. One of Evo's greatest aspirations is to preserve the many diverse cultures of Bolivia. Preserving culture is a beautiful aspiration and one that the evangelical church should really get behind. Culture is a gift of God's grace and it is his heart and desire that people from EVERY people and nation would know and worship the one true God. The church should not see traditional cultures and religions has a threat, but rather as a blessing and an opportunity to enter into the worldview of another and offer the transformative power of Christ to dwell among the people and within their cultural context. The gospel affirms most aspects of each culture, confronts certain aspects of each culture, and transforms every culture. May the church realize the beauty and blessing of the diverse cultures of Bolivia and have the passion needed to bring the light of Christ into each of and every one.