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PEJ News - C. L. Cook - Already faced with Castro and Chavez, the landslide electoral victory of Evo Morales in Bolivia signals a new front for the Bush administration's War on Democracy in Latin America.
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The Crisis of Democracia!
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
December 22, 2005
The Associated Press (AP) reports today, Bolivia's newly minted President-elect, Evo Morales promises he will nationalize his country's oil and gas sector, promising he will render null and void contracts with foreign companies he accuses of "looting" the nation's wealth.
The former coca farmer, and first indigenous leader of Bolivia also vows to strike down laws criminalizing the cultivation of the plant known best as the source of cocaine. Neither measure reassuring to Washington's plan for the Andean region.
Committing to a program of nationalization of natural resources, Morales says he won't expel foreign corporations, or confiscate refineries, but instead will renegotiate deals as a "partner" in the development of those resources, while retaining full ownership for Bolivia.
Speaking in the capital, La Paz, the apparent president-elect explained his position, saying: "Many of these contracts signed by various governments are illegal and unconstitutional. It is not possible that our natural resources continue to be looted, exploited illegally, and as the lawyers say, these contracts are legally void and must be adjusted."
This is being seen as a stunning reversal of fortune for the Bush administration and its friends in the oil business; Bolivia's reserves are believed second only to Venezuela, and the prospect of a second Hugo Chavez is not sitting well Washington. In 2002, the U.S. threatened to cut off 90 million dollars in aid transfers to the country should Morales win the election.
The Bush administration has also accused Chavez of "interfering" with the political process in Bolivia.
Morales has already expressed an interest in forming an alliance with Venezuela and join its president's efforts to redefine the role of multinational oil corporations in their respective countries.
Preliminary election results give Morales more than 54 percent of the vote, with less than eight percent of the general vote to be tallied. He needs only 50 percent plus one to be acclaimed without the imprimatur of the congress.
Morales' first step on what he hopes to be the road to full state control the country's oil and gas was to demand Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras return two refineries purchased from Bolivia's state-owned oil company in 1999. It's a move that will challenge the nominally left-wing "populist" Brazilian president, Luiz "Lula" da Silva.
While keeping the details of his program vague, Morales has said, contracts with companies found to have secretly exported oil and gas, avoiding state royalties, will be voided outright. Energy multinationals currently invested in Bolivia include: Petrobras, Spain's Repsol, Total SA of France, and British Gas, and BP PL:C.
Should the results prove true, Morales will be sworn into office January 22, 2006. And should he be true to his word, other multinationals who feasted on Bolivia in an orgy of privatization following International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) implemented in the 1990's, could too find their holdings less secure.
Chris Cook is a contributing editor to PEJ News and host of the weekly public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. You can check out the GR Blog here.
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