The candidates from the big parties tried all the tricks they knew. They campaigned on everything from bicycles to horseback; they handed out promises and electoral bribes, from chocolates and pasta to beer and bags of cement. But the voters were not convinced. Though only preliminary results are in for the 327 mayoral posts that were contested on December 5th, an unprecedented upset seems certain. The political parties that have taken turns to run Bolivia since its dictatorship ended in 1982 have been ousted for their promotion of unpopular free-market policies and privatisation and their tolerance of corruption. The same parties that picked up two-thirds of the votes cast in the last local elections in 1999 may have gained as little as 10% this time.
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