TIAHUANACU, Bolivia.- The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, participated in the ceremony held in the locality de Tiahuanacu, to receive the first rays of the sun of the Andean Amazonian New Year number 5526.

Morales, executive authorities and part of the population of the region, attended the ancestral ceremony for the renewal of energies, which included offerings and rituals to Mother Earth in pursuit of better days and prosperity for the nation.

Every Andean Amazonian New Year is celebrated in 207 Bolivian sacred sites on June 21, prepared for the occasion, where amautas perform ceremonies called Return of the Sun.

The celebration, as a source of energy and spiritual renewal, coincides with the winter solstice on June 20 and 23 in the southern hemisphere.

Evo Morales Presents Forum of Ancient Civilizations

President Evo Morales presented the II Forum of Ancient Civilizations and Millenary Cultures in the Present, moments after the ceremony held in Tiahuanaco to receive the Amazonian Andean New Year.

Evo thanked the trust placed in the country, because it is a recognition of the value of the native and millennial cultures, whose root has subsisted thanks to the practices of grandparents and grandmothers.

The Bolivian President also said this type of event allows dialoguing from differences over the validity of ancestral wisdom to find answers and alternatives to the challenges facing humanity, such as climate change and other threats.

He expressed the honor of receiving representatives from China, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Italy and Peru, nations that share with Bolivia the blessing of being descendants of millenary cultures.