Re: [Marxism] Bolivia Denounces US Meddling

["Fred Fuentes" <fred.fuentes@xxxxxxxxx>]

more on this issue plus
The mayor of Santa Cruz proposes the creation of "another nation"
http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2007/08/mayor-of-santa-cruz-proposes-creation.html

Bolivia accuses US aid of supporting opposition

The Associated Press, Wednesday, August 29, 2007
http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2007/08/bolivia-accuses-us-aid-of-supporting.html

La Paz - The government stepped up its criticism of U.S. aid, with a
top Cabinet official alleging the U.S. government is supporting
opposition to President Evo Morales' sweeping leftist reforms.

Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana's comments Wednesday came
just days after Vice President Alvaro Garcia accused Washington of
funding "publications, trips, and seminars" to help Morales' opponents

"The Bolivian people have decided to undertake a process of profound
change," Quintana said. "But these changes are being harassed and
interfered with by the effects of U.S. assistance."

Quintana added that "if U.S. cooperation does not conform to the
policies of the Bolivian state, the door is open" for it to leave the
country.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told
reporters that "there is absolutely no truth to any allegation that
the U.S. is using its aid funds to try and influence the political
process or in any way undermine the government there."

On Sunday, Garcia called for a law giving the Bolivian government
control over all foreign aid programs, charging the U.S. funds are
helping Morales' opposition develop its "ideological and political
resistance."

Bolivia receives about US$120 million (€88 million) in annual aid from
the United States, but Morales warned this week that "radical
decisions" would be taken against foreign embassies that meddle in
Bolivian politics.

Morales has moved to nationalize Bolivia's oil and gas industry,
proposed a land reform and is seeking a new constitution that would
grant greater power to the impoverished Andean nation's Indian
majority.

While the president's support remains high among the largely
indigenous population of the poorer western highlands, many
European-descended and mestizo residents of the more prosperous
lowland east have bitterly opposed his reforms. A prominent eastern
mayor even suggested Tuesday that Bolivia should split into two
separate countries.

Quintana named several government ministers from previous conservative
administrations allegedly on the payrolls of democracy initiatives
subcontracted by the U.S. Agency for International Development to
Chemonics International Inc., a global consulting firm.

David Snider, a USAID spokesman in Washington, said Bolivian
assistance is not directed toward any political ends.

"We don't choose sides," he told The Associated Press.

The United States has used its Bolivian aid to oppose Morales and his
Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, in the past.

A declassified 2002 cable from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz described a
USAID-sponsored "political party reform project" to "help build
moderate, pro-democracy political parties that can serve as a
counterweight to the radical MAS or its successors."
The U.S. Embassy in La Paz declined this week to comment on the memo.

On 8/30/07, Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> (Spanish follows English.)
> ==========================================================================
>
> GRANMA
> August 30, 2007
>
> Bolivia Denounces US Meddling
>

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism