Movimiento al Socialismo

From Bolivian Politics

Movimiento al Socialismo
Leader	Evo Morales
Founded	23 July 1987
Headquarters	La Paz
Ideology	National-populist
Affiliation	None
Colors	Cobalt blue, black, white
Website	www.masbolivia.org

Founded in 1987, Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement towards Socialism—MAS) is a national-populist party. Originally a "socialist" breakaway faction of the Falange Socialista Boliviana (FSB), MAS has evolved and grown after merging with the Instrumento Político para la Soberanía del Pueblo (IPSP) in 1999. It became one of the principal anti-systemic parties. Its leader, Evo Morales, is currently president of Bolivia.

Contents 1 Ideology 2 History 2.1 Early Years 2.2 MAS after 1999 2.3 MAS after 2005 3 MAS in government 3.1 MAS-led governments 3.2 MAS legislators elected 4 People 4.1 Presidential candidates 4.2 Candidate lists 5 Parties and organizations allied with MAS 6 Bibliography 7 External Links 8 See also

Ideology

History

Early Years

MAS was originally founded as Movimiento al Socialismo Unzaguista (MAS-U) 23 July 1987 by the "socialist" faction of Falange Socialista Boliviana (FSB) led by David Añez Pedraza (the 1985 FSB presidential candidate). The party was named in honor of Oscar Unzaga de la Vega, who founded Bolivia's falangist party in 1937. MAS-U participated as part of the Izquierda Unida (IU) alliance in the 1989, 1993, and 1997 general elections.

MAS-U later merged with Asamblea para la Soberanía de los Pueblos (ASP) and the Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos (IPSP), founded in 1993. ASP-IPSP participated in the 1993 and 1997 IU electoral alliances. ASP (led by Alejo Véliz) broke with IPSP (led by Evo Morales) in 1998. In January 1999, unable to secure official recognition of IPSP by the National Electoral Court, Morales formed an official alliance with the leader of MAS-U. In exchange for use of the party's official registration status, Evo Morales named Añez Pedraza president emeritus of the new IPSP-MAS alliance (later shortened to MAS). The party kept the colors black, cobalt blue, and white (which are also the original FSB colors).

MAS after 1999

MAS participated in its first general election in 2002, with Evo Morales as the party's presidential candidate.

MAS after 2005

MAS participated in the 2005 general election, again with Evo Morales as the party's presidential candidate.

MAS in government

MAS-led governments

• Evo Morales government (2006-present)

MAS legislators elected

• 2002 MAS legislators
• 2005 MAS legislators
• 2006 MAS constituent assembly delegates

People

Presidential candidates

• 2002 - Evo Morales
• 2005 - Evo Morales

Candidate lists

• 2002 MAS candidates
• 2005 MAS candidates
• 2006 MAS candidates

Parties and organizations allied with MAS

• Movimiento Sin Miedo

Bibliography

External Links

See also

• Political parties