Don't beat your backers or soon enough they'll beat you much harder, Mr Morales!

Last week I spoke of the bright future which could herald for South America but recent developments in Bolivia have run contrary to this promise.
In 2005, Evo Morales was elected as the first indigenous president of Bolivia and this was widely seen as a great advance in the rights of the indigenous people and for equality. Whilst some of his policies have been a tad too socialist at times there is no doubt that Morales is one of the first presidents who has managed to put Bolivians first, stood up to big multinationals and kept the economy going strongly. A former cocoa farmer who rode to power on the back of powerful social movements which called for a decent standard of living and the protection of the environment, there is no doubt that Morales was a man of the people. This, however, may no longer be the case.
Due to it's geographical position, the fact that many of the Amazon's tributaries start there and its many glaciers and high altitude Bolivia has been affected more than most countries by the relentless rise of global temperatures due to climate change and thus Morales has always championed 'Pacha Mama' (Mother Nature) on the global scene. However, Morales now stands accused of turning his back on the environment, the rights of indigenous people and the constitution in favour of economic development. All indigenous nations are supposed to be consulted before a development which could affect them takes place, this was put in the constitution by none other than Morales himself, however, Morales began plans to build a highway through the Amazon without consulting any of the indigenous nations! Morales has argued that the road will benefit all the people of Bolivia as it will make travel and transport easier, however, protesters argue that protected indigenous lands will be cut through, the eco-system will suffer and that Morales and his government are only listening to one section of the population and are only to Ayamara Indians (the nation which Morales belongs to) and not other indigenous groups.
The worst part is that the protesters do not seem to be allowed to protest. Morales has authorised police brutality and beatings to prevent the protest marches from becoming too vocal. This is rank hypocrisy, Morales himself led many protest marches (two of which helped remove former presidents from office) however know that they are challenging him and that his re-election is in doubt he is trying everything to prevent them and has even accused the protest leaders of being U.S. spies. The man who came to power calling for more democracy and promising to listen to the the demands of the people has suddenly become the enemy of the people and the enemy of democracy; if Morales wants to remain in power he must stick to the beliefs which helped him come to power rather than oppress the very people who got him there!