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George W. Bush has come out with harsh
words for the governments of Bolivia and Venzeuela.``Let me just
put it bluntly--I'm concerned about the erosion of democracy
in the countries you mentioned,'' Bush said in response to a
question put to him about Venezuela and Bolivia. ``I am going
to continue to remind our hemisphere that respect for property
rights and human rights is essential for all countries,"
he added.
While Bush's hostility towards
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is well known, his critical comments
about Bolivia came as somewhat of a surprise, given that Evo
Morales has served only four months as the country's first Indian
president and has done nothing to thwart the democratic process.
As Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca noted: "We
are creating a participatory democracy and the world knows it.
I don't understand how the United States can say democracy is
eroding..."
Bush's true agenda is reflected
in his call for "respect for property rights." A change
is taking place in South America as Morales and Chavez move to
exert greater control of their energy resources and challenge
US plans for a hemispheric free trade zone. As the president
of the Bolivian Senate, Santos Ramirez, noted: "Bolivia
and Latin America are no longer the servile democracies that
tolerate...poverty and the surrendering of sovereignty."
Early in May Morales announced
that Bolivia would nationalize its energy resources, particularly
its natural gas exports. While no foreign corporations were expropriated
out right, Morales made it clear that "the looting of our
natural resources by foreign enterprises is over."
At the same time Morales is
moving to reshape the country's commercial relations, particularly
with Venezuela. This week Hugo Chavez flew to Bolivia, declaring
"we are going to concretize the People's Trade Treaty,"
an accord that was recently signed between Venezuela, Bolivia
and Cuba. It is openly pitched as an alternative to the US-backed
Free Trade Area of the Americas, a trade zone based on neo-liberal
principles that facilitates the expansion of multinational corporations.
Bolivia and Venezuela have
signed eight different accords dealing with 200 different projects
concerning energy, mining, education, sports and cultural exchanges.
Most importantly Venezuela has agreed to invest over $1 billion
to help industrialize Bolivia's natural gas production, including
the construction of a petrochemical complex.
Venezuela is also providing
diesel fuel, which Bolivia does not produce, in exchange for
the sale of soybeans. This comes at an opportune moment for Bolivia
as most of its soy exports have gone to Colombia which just signed
a free trade agreement with the United States. The US-Colombian
accord means that cheap, subsidized US grains will flood Colombia,
driving out Bolivian soybeans.
In Bolivia Morales took Chavez
on a visit to Chipare, the semi- tropical region where he rose
to prominence as the leader of the coca growers' confederation.
There they announced their intention to build a factory to process
coca leafs for herbal teas, medicinal products, and cosmetics.
This is certain to arouse the ire of the United States which
for years has pursued a policy of forced eradication of coca
in Chipare, leading to the virtual militarization of the region.
The burgeoning economic alliance
between Venezuela and Bolivia also helps offset the difficulties
that have arisen with Brazil and Argentina over Morales' determination
to exert greater control over natural gas exports. Both neighboring
countries have significant investments in Bolivia's gas fields,
and both are importing gas for domestic use at prices well below
the world market. At a recent international gathering of Latin
American and European leaders in Vienna, Austria, Morales and
President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil exchanged harsh
words over efforts to draft a new accord over natural gas. While
the two leaders formally made up before they left Austria, there
is little doubt that Chavez' support provides Bolivia with leverage
in its negotiations with its two more powerful neighbors.
Venezuela is also signing a
financial accord aimed at bolstering Bolivia's banking and monetary
system. This is intended to strengthen Morales' hand vis-à-vis
the United States and international financial institutions. The
Bolivian government at the end of March announced that it would
not solicit any new loans from the International Monetary Fund.
The fund has aroused a great deal of antipathy in recent decades
as it restricted social spending and forced the privatization
of state enterprises, particularly in the tin mining industry.
The visit of Chavez to Bolivia
coincides with the opening of the Exchange Fair, a project of
the People's Trade Treaty between Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba.
Enterprises from all three countries participated with the goal
of expanding commerce and sharing technical expertise. At the
fair the vice-president of Bolivia, Alvaro Garcia Linera, criticized
the US neo-liberal trade regime, asserting: "It is not necessary
for small producers and entrepreneurs to subordinate themselves
to financial capitalThere are other forms of interdependence,
other forms of globalization, other ways to generate regional
exchanges of products, ideas, and necessities." Garcia Linera
concluded, "Bolivia needs the world, and it will produce
for the world."
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