Movement Toward Socialism

Arce was the candidate of Movement Toward Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo; MAS), the leftist party that Morales had helped to found. He had been the architect of the economic transformation during Morales’s presidency, which renationalized Bolivia’s thriving petroleum industry, redistributed agricultural land, increased taxes on the wealthy, and lifted countless…

…of the left-wing political party Movement Toward Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo; MAS) and a former coca-growers’ union leader, Morales fought for more rights for indigenous communities, for less-harsh restrictions on coca farmers, and for more taxes on the wealthy. In 2006 he nationalized Bolivia’s gas fields and oil industry, and…

…a national political party—the leftist Movement Toward Socialism (Spanish: Movimiento al Socialismo; MAS)—at the same time serving as titular leader of the federation representing coca growers.