President Evo Morales of Bolivia never shies away from a scuffle. He was elected as Bolivia's first indigenous president after toppling the previous government with massive street protests, and he has since legalized the coca leaf, nationalized the mines, and tossed out the U.S. ambassador. Bolivian President Evo Morales makes an offering to the "Pachamama" (The Mother Earth) during a ritual at the sacred Aymara site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Morales has called for rich nations to take on the problem of global warming, noting that the worst effects fall on poor nations.Photo: Noah Friedman-RudovskyThe one-time coca farmer and llama herder …
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Sasha Chavkin is a freelance writer based in New York City. He was a 2007-08 Middlebury Fellow in Environmental Journalism, and his work has been appeared in The Nation, Americas Quarterly and World Politics Review.
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