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Even before Barrientos' burial, some campesinos who revered him were agitating against Successor Siles. They complained that the new President, whose father and half-brother have also held the office, represents "the old oligarchy"; in a tearful ceremony, the traditional baton of the "maximum chief" of the Indians was passed to Ovando and not to Siles. Siles, a lawyer trained both in South America and Spain, is no oligarch but believes in a more legalistic democracy than Barrientos practiced. He may not be as forceful a ruler as was Barrientos. Ovando, 50, who has the support of Bolivia's ineffectual army and of the campesinos, is eager to succeed Siles, either at the end of his 15-month term or perhaps before. Perhaps the strongest tribute to Barrientos' regime was the simple fact that Bolivians for so long have not had to worry about such intrigues.
