Bolivia gets 2nd holiday marking nation’s founding

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – Bolivians can now celebrate their country’s founding twice a year.

President Evo Morales has decreed Jan. 22 a national holiday. That’s the date last week when he announced the end of colonialism and the emergence of an ethnically inclusive republic.

Morales has championed the eradication of all vestiges of colonial repression and discrimination against the country’s indigenous majority. The new constitution gives Bolivia’s 36 ethnic groups the right to self-determination at the municipal level.

The South American nation’s 1825 independence from Spain is celebrated on Aug. 6.