Re: [Marxism] Socialist Voice: Morales election is a victory for

[Marvin Gandall <marvgandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Leslie copied:

> Bolivia Remains a Powder Keg Following the Election of Morales
>
> by Gerry Foley

[...]

> While Morales identified himself with the opposition to the imperialist
> offensive (neoliberalism) in Latin America, he was also quick to reassure
> the national and foreign capitalists. His trip to Cuba was followed
> quickly by a tour of Europe, including a meeting with the Spanish
> president, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which had a special importance.
> One of the largest, if not the largest, petroleum trust operating in
> Bolivia is the Spanish corporation Repsol, which absorbed the privatized
> Argentinian state oil company YPF...

> The Bolivian radical website Econoticias reported Jan. 4: "Morales said
> during his meeting with the president of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez
> Zapatero, and the managements of companies such as Repsol, Iberdrola, and
> others that have investments in the country that 'the Bolivian government
> is going to exercise its right of ownership but this does not mean
> expropriating or confiscating.' His interlocutors indicated their
> satisfaction with his promises.
>
> "Morales' promise is to carry out a symbolic nationalization, which
> amounts to applying with minor adjustments the present hydrocarbon law
> [imposed by his predecessor Carlos Mesa, who was forced to resign in June
> 2005 by a mass rebellion], which retains the ownership of the hydrocarbons
> for the Bolivian state while they remain in the ground or as they come to
> the surface.

[...]

=========================================
I understand the Chavez government in Venezuela has not nationalized the
more than two dozen foreign oil companies operating in the country, but has
instead forced them into joint ventures dominated by the PdVSA, the state
oil company. Because they will still be earning good profits, all of the oil
firms - save for Exxon Mobil, which is threatening legal action - have
reluctantly agreed to the changes. In effect, the Chavez government tore up
the agreements these companies had made with the previous government on
grounds they violated national law by granting them preferential tax rates.
The companies include Repsol YPF, Petrobras, Total and others which also
currently have interests in Bolivia.

I would be surprised to learn that this is also not the direction of the
Morales government. It has already announced it intends to beef up the state
oil company, YPF Bolivianos, and to renegotiate the contracts which its
predecessor Mesa administration negotiated with the foreign oil firms.

Clearly, the Venezuelans and Bolivians want the foreign producers to
continue to invest in the development of their reserves, but to have the
controlling stake in these ventures. It will be interesting to see to what
extent Morales is able to impose the Venezuelan model in Bolivia, but the
strategy in each case clearly appears to be an attempt to strengthen the
national oil company and to use it to control and outflank the private
sector as an alternative to outright nationalization - and the damaging
political crises which would likely ensue in relations with the Latin
American and European states they view as a counterweight to US pressure.

Has the Morales administration indicated anything which suggests it intends
a different course than the Chavez government, and, if it has not, whether
Gerry Foley and the other critics of the Bolivians similarly accused the
Venezuelans of selling out their country's energy resources?




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