I hope BP pulls out. If they stay for the pittance they'll get, they'll send a message to every other third world cesspool they deal with: "Let us set up drilling in your country. Then you can steal it and we'll become your obedient servants."
Oil companies are experienced in the art of dealing with third world thieves and potentates, so there is an even chance they will come to an accommodation they can live with.
But make no mistake. The situation of an "elite" that controls the wealth of the country will not be less true with Morales in charge, it will be more true. Bolivia's first hope to break out of its poverty was when they convinced the oil companies to develop their gas fields, and they built the 2000 kilometer pipeline to Brazil.
That put Bolivia on the map for the first time in several centuries as a place you could prosper.
But it also tied Bolivia to Brazil's business cycle. The second hope for Bolivia was a second pipeline to the sea, to tie them to the world. That is when the mobs went crazy, because according to Morales, that meant "slavery". He told his people that coca was authentic to their culture, not hydrocarbons. He was egged on by Chavez and Euro NGOs, which is grotesque if you think about it, an OPEC leader warning the poorest country in the world away from going into oil and gas production.
He is neither the first nor the last gangster to rule that country. Sadly, he put an end to what was a moment of hope for Bolivia. He is not a departure from their history, he is more of the same.