MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Japanese descendent runs for president in Bolivia

A Bolivian of Japanese descent was chosen Sunday morning by the centre-right MNR party as its presidential candidate for the December election

Michiaki Nagatani was nominated at a meeting of leaders of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement, former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's party, in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

Mr. Nagatani is the fifth official presidential hopeful for December 4 election. However it wasn't an easy nomination, according to the Bolivian press. The MNR leadership Saturday session was interrupted by fistfights and accusations among the several party factions.

Mr. Sanchez de Lozada was resigned October 2003 amid a wave of protests after having ruled for just over a year. He fled to the United States where he currently lives. The former president, who also ruled from 1993 to1997, was the guiding force behind Nagatani's nomination as MNR's candidate, revealed other party leaders.

A political scientist by profession Mr. Nagatani is the son of Japanese immigrants living in San Juan de Yacapani, some 125 kilometers north of Santa Cruz.

Also running for president are former President Jorge Quiroga, who ruled between 2001 and 2002 and leads in the latest public opinion polls with 22% vote intention, followed by Indian leader Evo Morales, businessman Samuel Doria Medina and Potosi Mayor Rene Joaquino.

With one of South America's lowest income per capita, landlocked Bolivia is also extremely rich in natural gas and oil, but has been locked in controversy over hydrocarbons legislation. Half the country supports or accepts legislation introduced during the first administration of Sanchez de Lozada (1996) which opened the resources to foreign corporations and strong investment, but the other half is more radical and demands higher taxes on oil production or outright nationalization of the industry.

This yet unsolved controversy will be at the heart of the coming December general election when a new president and new Congress will be elected.

Neighbouring Peru was ruled for a decade by a Japanese descendent president Alberto Fujimori until he resigned in 2000 during a visit to Japan where he still lives.

Mr. Fujimori never returned to Peru because he's accused of several charges of corruption and human rights abuses.