Morales: Down with capitalism; move the U.N.; give Iran a chance

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Bolivian President Evo Morales welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Bolivia on Thursday, sparking an outcry in Bolivia, where the leftist Morales is a hero to some, a divisive demagogue to others. He’s seldom short of words.

The visit came a day after Morales, speaking at the United Nations, called for the end of capitalism and moving the U.N. headquarters away from New York. Delays in obtaining U.S. visas and clearing customs and immigration really irked Bolivia’s first indigenous president, leader of Bolivia’s coca-leaf growers.

‘My ministers who came, indigenous people, are subjected to hours and hours of control, and some come to be threatened by the head of the household, by President Bush,’ Morales said, according to El Nuevo Día.

The newspaper’s front page bannered word of Morales’ wish to ‘eradicate capitalism.’

Moving the U.N. seat from the United States, Morales said, would speed the descolonización (de-colonialization) of the world body.

While in New York, Morales also did a televised interview with comedian Jon Stewart, declaring, ‘Please don’t consider me part of the axis of evil.’

Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Bolivia