01 August, 2012
A woman stands on a street corner in Oruro,
a Bolivian mining
town in the Andes Mountains
This will mark the end of capitalism and usher in a new era of equality, the Bolivian govt says.
The coming ‘end’ of the Mayan lunar calendar on December 21 of this year has sparked widespread doomsaying of an impending apocalypse.
But Choquehuanca argued differently, claiming it will be the end of days for capitalism, not the planet.
The minister encouraged the people of Bolivia to drink Mocochinche, a peach-flavored soft drink, as an alternative to Coca-Cola.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
followed suit, encouraging his country to ditch the American
beverage for fruit juice produced in Venezuela.
The fast food giant finally gave up on
Bolivia after being unable to turn a profit in the country
for over a decade.
Morales pledged last month to legalize the consumption of coca leaves, one of the main ingredients of cocaine.
The coca leaf was declared an illegal narcotic by the UN in 1961, along with cocaine, opium and morphine.
The consumption of coca leaves is a
centuries-old tradition in Bolivia, strongly rooted in the beliefs
of various indigenous groups.
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