V and I have a bet on. She reckons that the next time Latin America's new celebrity Presidente Evo Morales returns to Europe on an official visit he will have acquired a suit, perhaps a first token of longer-term corruptibility. As for me, I like to think he'll still be wearing the burgundy, buff and blue stripey sweater (or similar) that he sported yesterday on arrival in Spain and which he kept on throughout subsequent visits to the Spanish Parliament and Royal Palace.The Bolivian president-elect's first question to José Luis Zapatero was "is it really you?" referring to the prank played on him recently by wags at a Spanish channel who rang him up impersonating the Spanish PM and nearly caused a major diplomatic incident.
Later as he began his speech from a podium in front of a full gathering of Spain's lawmakers, Morales observed that he couldn't really believe that he was in the same place as so many important people and that the whole thing was a bit of a dream come true for him. He will no doubt find a kindred spirit in Zapatero, who still has the aura of a man who thinks he might wake up from his rather pleasurable political reverie any minute now.
Nationalisation without appropriation was the message Morales then delivered over lunch with a group of Spain's leading industrialists. Foreign companies operating in Bolivia must act with "respeto...mucho respeto". Concerns were generally assuaged. Zapatero agreed to write off $120m of Bolivia's debt which Evo says will now be spent on improving educational programmes. (Surely he could also buy himself a suit?)
Meanwhile the balaclava-clad rebel formerly known as Subcomandante Marcos has announced that he will undertake an awareness-raising tour of all 31 states of Mexico prior to the presidential elections, adopting the new moniker of Delegado Zero. According to Government spoilers, the real identity of the pipe-smoking Zapatista leader is Rafael Guillén, a middle-class university lecturer before the postmodern non-revolution in Chiapas.
