politician keeps promise

In Copacabana in 2004, a good natured middle aged man with impeccably bad teeth sat on the veranda with myself and Rafa and talked for an hour or so as the sun smoked and we set light to powerful tobacco. Lake Titicaca slowly receded into mother night. The middle aged man with the impeccably bad teeth seemed to enjoy the chance to talk. He exuded whistfulness. He told us how his country had wealth, the trouble is there didn't seem to be any way of matching that wealth with the welfare of the country. Either corrupt politicians, businessmen and military annexed it for themselves, or it went abroad. Foreigners had a better grip on how to maximise Bolivian wealth than Bolivians. He seemed resigned to it. A year or so later, Evo Morales won the election. He won it on a promise to 'nationalise' Bolivia's natural resources. On Monday he began to fulfil that promise. Many think he's crazy. That 'many' does not appear to include the majority of Bolivians who voted for him. Who knows if the middle aged man with the impeccably bad teeth is still looking after the guesthouse with the best view in Copacabana. If he is, I guess he'll be pleased to be telling the travellers a different story for a change.