Social and Democratic Power

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Bolivia

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Podemos is the name of a right-of-center, pro-business Bolivian political party. It is a pseudo-acronym standing for 'Poder Democratico y Social' (in English, Social and Democratic Power), but the word also means "we can."

Podemos is in fact the continuation of the Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN) of former president Hugo Banzer. Upon Banzer's death in 2002, former president Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002) became leader of the ADN, but apparently concluded that the name of the party was too associated with the life and thought of the ex-dictator. Thus, he changed the name of the organization to Podemos and ran as its presidential candidate in the 2005 elections. He finished a distant second to current president Evo Morales of MAS (Movement Toward Socialism). It should be noted that even though Podemos is on the surface a new party, its structures, ideology, and supporters remain beasically the same as those of the old ADN.