MORALESLA PAZ, Bolivia (AP):
BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT Evo Morales cut his salary in half and ordered that no Cabinet minister collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings being used to hire more public school teachers.
In one of the first decrees of his five-day-old rule, the leftist former street activist said his salary would be 15,000 bolivianos (US$1,700) a month.
"I ask for (the ministers') understanding and efforts to try meet this demand, not for Evo but for the people," Morales said in a news conference Thursday following a meeting with his Cabinet.
The money saved from the salary cut will be used to create a fund used to hire more tea-chers for the nation's public schools.
"We need 6,000 new teachers and there is only money for 2,200," he said.
Morales had promised to cut the salary of the president and members of his party in half during the election campaign. His predecessor earned 34,900 bolivianos (US$3,900) a month.
Morales was inaugurated as Bolivia's first Indian president on Sunday following his landslide election win in December.
