January 27, 2006: The newly elected president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was not a popular candidate among the senior leadership of the Bolivian military. Some of the generals spoke openly of staging a coup if the leftist Morales was elected. He was, they didn’t, and so Morales has fired nearly all the senior generals, and promoted more junior ones. The new senior leadership has apparently taken the hint, and has pledged to back president Morales in whatever plans he has for the military. This does not mean Morales is now coup-proof. The sacked senior generals were merely expressing opinions popular throughout the armed forces. So Morales might still get the knock on (or tank shell through) the door of the presidential palace.