the idea, initially seeking out someone else—preferably an Aymara—to fulfill the role. In the end, he ultimately accepted Morales' offer; "I [said], 'if I don't accept, [the new minister] will be the same as always, and one day I will feel guilty", he stated. In assuming office, Choquehuanca became the first indigenous person to occupy the office of foreign minister in Bolivian history. In his eleven years in office—the longest of any foreign minister in Bolivian history— Choquehuanca established himself as one of the most influential individuals within the president's inner circle, for which he was "unanimously considered the third figure in the ruling party, after Morales and Vice President Álvaro García Linera". As foreign minister, Choquehuanca represented the "moderate Indianist current" in the Morales administration, the faction of MAS supporters that "saw the government's main role as decolonizing Bolivian society". Thanks in part to Choquehuanca's leadership, this group enjoyed the most international visibility, utilizing "idealized versions of Andean culture to project an indigenous image onto the government's... projects". Though weakened by the excision of its most radical proponents in the early years of Morales' administration, the indigenists nonetheless remained symbolically influential from 2010 onward. This fact gave Choquehuanca significant grassroots support, especially among the Aymara peoples of the Altiplano. As Choquehuanca's internal influence within the government grew, media outlets increasingly turned their attention to simmering tensions between the foreign minister and other sectors of the Morales administration, particularly those loyal to his vice president, García Linera. According to sociologist Ricardo Calla, the internal schism between the vice president's and foreign minister's entourages had begun even before 2006. This conflict deepened following the failure of the 2016 constitutional referendum, in which voters rejected loosening term limits to allow Morales to seek a fourth mandate. With Morales barred from running for the time being, Choquehuanca increasingly made moves to position himself as the president's successor should the MAS fail to overturn the results through different legal avenues, a fact that drew the ire of the president, leading to a deterioration in their relationship. Amid this power struggle, Choquehuanca's position found itself weakened in the wake of the 2016 water crisis in La Paz, which saw increased scrutiny placed on the then-minister of environment, Alexandra Moreira, and the country's leading water authorities, most of whom had been quotas of Choquehuanca's bloc, with Moreira having previously served as the foreign minister's chief of