Evo Morales, Bolivia's first-ever indigenous president, has already met the targets of many of his programs in the first two years of his four-year term.
But starting the second half Tuesday, he faces the challenge of putting a new constitution in place and healing secessionist rifts, analysts said.
On Tuesday, Morales delivered his report to the Bolivian National Congress, stating that "Bolivia will never be the same one."
In his report, Morales listed the tasks that the government had addressed and some remaining problems, such as corruption.
Key promises fulfilled
As Bolivia's longest-serving president in 10 years, Morales told Congress on the second anniversary of his taking over that he has already fulfilled two key promises of his electoral campaign: nationalizing the country's energy sector and drafting a new constitution via a Constituent Assembly.
He restructured the nation's energy sector on May 1, 2006, forcing it to pay 82 percent of its earnings to the government, and brought energy firm Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) back under state control.
The move is part of a broader program that has nationalized metal company Vinto and mining companies Empresa Minera Huanuni and Aguas del Illimani.
The Bolivian government also created the state-owned companies cardboard-maker Cartonbol, paper producer Papelbol, the Bolivian Air Company and the Food Production Support Company.
Morales is fighting to end neo-liberal economic structures in Bolivia, where 60 percent of the population is below the poverty line and five percent has a disproportionate amount of wealth.
Other achievements during the first two years include passing welfare payments for primary school students and pensioners as well as providing loans to small businessmen.
His government has also taken measures to support medical services, housing and exports and generated solid international reserves and a trade surplus.
In addition, the new constitution was approved by Bolivia's National Congress in December 2007 to give the country's majority more power.
Morales called the approval a source of "great happiness for the indigenous and popular movement."
Problems remain
However, the proposed new constitution sparked a drive for greater independence in four of Bolivia's nine provinces and a standoff with the central government.
The four governors of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz and Tarija provinces are calling for autonomy and are opposed to measures in the new constitution, including cuts to their share of hydrocarbon taxes and moves that allow citizens to call impeachment referendums.
The Morales' government said efforts are being made to hold talks with the governors to end the impasse.
"We recognize that there is a complex panorama and the government is open to unconditional dialogue," Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said.
However, Ruben Costas, Santa Cruz's governor, told reporters that "Nobody opposes change, but we want to make progress without imposed rules."
Moreover, for the moment, one major electoral commitment -- to try former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada for corruption -- appears to be on the back burner.
The Bolivian government has not presented an extradition request to the United States, where Sanchez and his allies are living in exile.
Sanchez fled the nation in late 2003 after demonstrations killed 60 people in the cities of La Paz and El Alto in September and October of that year.
Morales, representing the Movement to Socialism, won the presidency on December 18, 2005, with 53.7 percent of the votes.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)
