Álvaro García Linera

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Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (born October 19, 1962) is a Bolivian politician. He is the vice president of Bolivia, elected in 2005 with Evo Morales. The two are members of the Movement Toward Socialism party.

He was born in Cochabamba and graduated from San Agustin High School. Then, he studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and became a mathematician. Returning to his native Bolivia, he attempted to put some of his long-held socialist ideals to practice and joined the Katarist "Ayllus Rojos", a series of experimental, Marxist -inspired native communities in northwestern Bolivia. When this attempt at grass-roots politics failed to come to fruition, Garcia Linera opted for a more radical approach. Alongside Felipe Quispe, he organized and worked in the insurgent Tupac Katari Terrorist Organization. After being caught destroying electrical distribution towers in rural La Paz, he was arrested and charged with insurrection and terrorism. While imprisoned without trial, he studied sociology. After his release he worked as a university professor, political analyst, and news commentator. He was a well known academic, known for his support of indigenous and left-wing political movements in South America (in spite of his upper-middle class upbringing). He was elected vice president as the running mate Evo Morales in the 2005 Bolivian presidential elections. He is an advocate of nationalization and a series of policies to regain the natural wealth of Bolivia and make a better living for the poor and outcasted.

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