Evo Morales is the current President of Bolivia, a post he has been holding since 2006. Born to impoverished indigenous parents in the remote mountainous part of his nation, young Evo learned the value of work by assisting his family in farming and herding to earn a living. After a devastating storm, his family migrated to a coca growing region. An avid sports fan, he learned the skills of leadership while captaining his team and worked equally well as a union organizer. After leading his fellow coca growers on a series of protests and strikes, Evo was persuaded to pursue a political path and was soon elected to the national congress. Despite strong opposition from powerful enemies abroad and domestic resistance to his cause, Morales won the ultimate contest and was swept into power as the country's first indigenous president. After radically reorienting his government, he has led his country on an independent and strongly autonomous path, preferring to spend budgetary windfalls on causes related to social justice over military hardware. Although he has repeatedly clashed with foreign powers, he managed to maintain his hold on the office of president. After winning a recent election, Morales is firmly positioned to guide his country for the foreseeable future.