Profile: Evo Morales

Aymara Indian Evo Morales has become in recent years both a key and controversial figure in Bolivian politics.

Morales has long been a thorn in the Bolivian state's side

The leader of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) reached a surprising second place in the 2002 presidential elections.

He later played a central role in the violent demonstrations demanding the nationalisation of the energy sector that led to the resignation of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada in October 2003.

More recently, Mr Morales has become a close ideological ally of the left-leaning Venezuelan government. Like President Hugo Chavez, he is an outspoken critic of the United States.

He has his power base is in the coca-growing areas of central Bolivia.

Ties with the coca-growers earned him the label of "narco-trade unionist" by Mr Sanchez de Lozada and, in the past, open condemnation from Washington.

Mr Morales is now hoping to become Bolivia's first indigenous president.

Ethnic considerations aside, the South American country is being closely watched as it is one of the nations where a Chavez-style leader could win the elections and further push the region to the left.

Insurrection

Mr Morales is headstrong and openly speaks his mind.

I am a coca grower. I cultivate coca leaf, which is a natural product. I do not refine [it into] cocaine Evo Morales

He refused to accept anything less than President Sanchez de Lozada's resignation over the gas issue and spoke of the demonstrations being an Indian uprising against the white minority elite.

Bolivia has a very strong Indian presence, and ethnic divisions run deep.

Mr Morales, who in his youth was a llama herder and trumpet player in a band, has played a leading role in the indigenous struggle and the conflicts between coca farmers and US-backed drug eradication programmes.

He was expelled from a previous government after three policemen were killed as farmers fought to prevent the closure of a coca market.

But lack of evidence and rumours that the US embassy was behind his removal reinforced popular opinion that he was not part of what some considered to be a "corrupt" political elite.

In the 2002 elections, his campaign received a healthy boost when the US ambassador in Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, warned that Washington could cut off aid if Bolivians chose candidates like Mr Morales.

The comments reinforced Mr Morales' position among certain sectors.

Control over gas

Although the recent protests have centred on the issue of Bolivian gas exports, Mr Morales has kept up pressure on the government over the coca issue.

Impoverished Bolivians fear they will see little benefit from gas sales

"I am not a drug trafficker," he once told the media.

"I am a coca grower. I cultivate coca leaf, which is a natural product. I do not refine [it into] cocaine, and neither cocaine nor drugs have ever been part of the Andean culture."

He is not only against the US-backed coca eradication programmes.

He also seeks some form of national control over Bolivia's huge gas reserves - the second largest in the region.

He has pledged to wrest power from the politicians who, he says, have "sacked" Bolivia and to bring the benefits of the nation's hydrocarbons to the people.

Bolivians are divided over Mr Morales.

Some believe he is a dangerous leader who could shut down Bolivia and isolate it internationally, pushing the nation further into poverty.

But for others he brings hope, he is someone who can open the horizon of a better future in South America's poorest country.