Morales holds symbolic ceremony in Indian ancestral style

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales holds a staff of command during an ancient ritual in the Akapana site of the sacred place of Tiwanaku, 100 kilometers away from La Paz, Jan. 21, 2006. Morales held a symbolic inaugural ceremony in an Indian ancestral style Jan. 21, one day before his swearing-in as the first indigenous president of Bolivia.

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales (L) receives a gift presented by people of another Latin American country during an ancient ritual in the Akapana site of the sacred place of Tiwanaku, 100 kilometers away from La Paz, Jan. 21, 2006.

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales (R) presents books and collections of Bolivian folk music to Chinese Justice Minister and government special envoy during their meeting at his residence in La Paz Jan. 21, 2006. Wu is in La Paz to attend Morales' inauguration on Jan. 22.