The government of President Evo Morales is handing out more than $50 million in laptops to teachers, with each laptop having Evo’s face stenciled on it.
Bolivia’s government is giving school teachers free laptops that feature a stenciled detail of the president’s smiley face.
Teachers union leader Jose Luis Alvarez in La Paz criticized the extra ornament, saying that it just promotes idolatry. He says teachers will cover the stencil.
Education Ministry Roberto Aguilar clarified that government officials originally planned to put on an image of Bolivia’s nine-colored indigenous flag, but manufacturer Lenovo recommended something simpler, in no more than two colors.
The government is handing out 130,000 laptops with Evo’s face; the machines have processors from Intel Corp., operating systems by Linux and Microsoft Corp. and 320-gigabyte hard drives.
