La Paz - Bolivia on Monday marked the 200th anniversary of the start of its war for independence from Spanish colonialism with two rival ceremonies. Leftist President Evo Morales and his supporters gathered in the town of El Villar about 230 kilometres from a rival ceremony in the constitutional capital, Sucre, where the opponents of the first elected indigenous president held their own event.
On May 25, 1809, a revolt against the Spanish colonialist began in Sucre and became known as the call to freedom for Latin America. The country gained its independence in 1825.
In Sucre, opposition Senate president Oscar Ortiz spoke out against Morales' policies to redistribute farmland to the country's Indios.
"Unfortunately we are not one and and cannot present ourselves as a united land to the world. Instead we are torn and plagued by poverty, corruption and drug crime," said Ortiz, the only official speaker at the event.
At the official ceremony in El Villar, Morales gave the keynote speech, and foreign diplomats and representatives of Indio organizations were in attendance. Morales said he would mark the holiday with 7 million dollars in aid to poor Indio communities.
