Mesa Hopes to End Morales' Long Rule of Bolivia in Fall Election
- Former president lags in recent poll, claims can win Oct. 20
- Aims to boost foreign investment, reestablish U.S. relations
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Carlos Mesa Gisbert, a former president of Bolivia, says voters should choose him over President Evo Morales in elections this October because he has better policies and because, after 13 years in power, Morales is a near-dictator of the left who could turn the country into another Venezuela.
Mesa, 65, who’s aiming his message at the rising middle class of the Andean nation of 11.5 million, spoke during a mid-June visit to Bloomberg in New York. He accused Morales of fostering "brutal corruption" and pledged to build an independent judiciary, increase press freedom, boost foreign investment, curb drug trafficking and reestablish formal relations with the U.S.