<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">For hundreds of years, inequality had plagued the indigenous people of the Andes, leaving them with little to no voice or control over their land or livelihood. The 2007 documentary,<i> Cocalero</i>, follows the presidential campaign of Evo Morales and highlights the political mobilization of the indigenous communities in Bolivia. The events of Morales’s election hearken back to those of <i>Our Brand is Crisis</i> setting up juxtaposition between the elite, but unpopular Goni and Morales. Despite humble beginnings, Morales gained major popularity due to his empathy and support for the needs of the indigenous communities. Throughout the film, we see him take a much different approach to his election. He visits people as much as possible, speaking with them directly and hearing their concerns. The film shows how Morales’s ambition as a politician was cultivated by the inequalities he witnessed as a coca farmer, and throughout his election he is adamant about making sure the voice of his suppressed community is heard. This election, in which he won at an extremely higher majority than Goni’s charade, shows the unification, strength, and support of a candidate who held goals analogous with that of his people. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Morales’s election by an impressive majority came on the tail of an increasing organization and uprising against institutional suppression of indigenous communities. These groups, who have called the Andean area home for thousands of years, have suffered under the dominance of external influences since Spanish colonization of the area. Under the control of hacendados, the indigenous suffered orchestrated stagnation to keep from developing toward personal and economic stability, and thus the state allowed for perpetuated exploitation and inequality. Subsequent organization and political pressure did begin to follow and resulted in a wave of land reforms in the 1960’s and 70’s. The reform of 1964 in Ecuador “legitimized native demands for land, while it frustrated the expectations of indigenous farmers” (Fields 43). Indeed, the subsequent reforms worked most to benefit the large landowners and keep lands open to interest, paying little acknowledgement to the indigenous communities. Resistance to the injustice put forth by the government was met with further suppression. Tensions continued to rise, and Indians, exploiting the state’s dependence upon their productivity responded to oppression in the form of organized boycotts, roadblocks, and land seizures (Sawyer 70). Just as we see the coca farmers in <i>Cocalero </i>face militaristic enforcement in the destruction of their fields, indigenous communities Ecuador endured intimidation and aggression by the state’s police in an attempt to forcefully settle indigenous political mobilization. Despite aggressive efforts, the communities of indigenous people continued to mobilize and reform, successfully growing in influence and demonstrations such </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>Cocalero</i> shows the power and political influence gained by the continuously increasing unification and unionization of the native peoples within Latin America. Under the leadership of Morales and his party, the Bolivians were able to find a voice louder than the external influences that had brought the exploitation of class and race that had plagued the indigenous communities for thousands of years.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6330293596542621957-6026425782493420261?l=sboatman.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
