Evo Morales invites 200 social organizations to his inauguration¡

LA PAZ, December 28. — Bolivia’s President-Elect Evo Morales plans to turn his inauguration, to which he has invited close to 200 organizations, into a “world summit of social movements” according to his spokesperson, Alex Contreras.

The Yahoo in Spanish news website cited Contreras who confirmed that everyone is to be present at this “world summit of social movements,” including leaders of the Argentine Piquiteros, the Mexican Zapatistas, the Landless Movement of Brazil, the Venezuelan Bolivarian Circles and the National Indigenous Council of Ecuador.

The following personalities have also confirmed their attendance at the ceremony: Argentine soccer star Diego Armando Maradona, singers Piero of Argentina and Silvio Rodriguez of Cuba, and Nobel Prize for Literature winner José Saramago. Morales’ list of invitees also includes Colombian Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Marquez; Nelson Mandela, former South African president; Nobel Peace Prize winners Rigoberto Menchú and Aldolfo Pérez Esquivel; and Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano.

Contreras assured that some 800 press corps are expected in La Paz for the ceremony.

According to official figures, Morales won 54% of the votes, but the National Electoral Council (CNE) is to submit the final results on January 5 once a revote has been held for 15 tables that were not functioning on election day, stated Oscar Hasserteufel, CNE president. These results are not expected to modify the final count.