IICA attended the inauguration of President Evo Morales

La Paz, 22 January 2015 (IICA). An official delegation from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), headed by the organization’s Director General, Víctor M. Villalobos, took part in the inauguration of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma. Held on January 22 in La Paz, the ceremony was attended by leaders of a number of Latin American countries.

Dr. Villalobos and Juan Risi, the Institute’s Representative in Bolivia, also attended Morales’ indigenous investiture ceremony, held on January 21 in the city of Tiahuanaco.

During his visit to the country, Villalobos was presented with the “Espiga Dorada” Merit of Honor medal by the School of Agronomists and Agricultural Science Professionals of Bolivia (CIAB), in recognition of his professional achievements and significant contributions to agricultural and rural development in the Americas. The CIAB also granted the IICA Director General the status of Honorary Member.

Dr. Villalobos gave a lecture on the main challenges facing agriculture in the hemisphere. During the activity, organized by the CIAB, he emphasized the need to strengthen and modernize agriculture’s political and institutional frameworks, enhance agricultural productivity and competitiveness to meet the growing demand for highly nutritional food, and develop production models that are resilient to climate change and reduce the agricultural sector’s impact on the environment.

The IICA Director General also called upon countries in the hemisphere to make food and nutrition security a social priority, and recognize the contributions made by family agriculture. Furthermore, he underscored the need to adopt innovative farming technologies combining ancestral and modern knowledge.

Around 150 people attended Villalobos’ lecture, including senior Bolivian officials, the Executive Secretary of the Confederación de Campesinos de Bolivia and other representatives of smallholder organizations, members of the diplomatic corps, academics, professionals involved in the agricultural sector, and journalists.

The leaders of Paraguay, Venezuela, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago also attended President Morales’ inauguration ceremony.

Indigenous investiture of President Morales

While the inaugural activities in La Paz were held at the Multinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia, the ancestral ceremony in Tiahuanaco took place in the Temple of Kalasasaya.

The ceremony followed Aymará rites and customs: the Yatiris (priests) made offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the apus (mountain spirits) to invoke their blessing on Morales’ new government. A group of amautas (wise men) then presented the President with a cane with four points on its head representing the points of the compass.

Bolivia’s national anthem was then sung in Spanish, Quechua, Aymará, and Guaraní.

In his address, Evo Morales noted that the world was entering the era of Pachacuti, or the restoration of the balance that had been upset by the excessive growth of consumerism and the resulting abuse of the environment.

He called for more respect for natural resources and pointed out that the Tiahuanaco civilization, as old as those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China, had developed technologies for the use of water and sustainable food production.

More information:
juan.risi@iica.int