Bolivia's Morales proposes total change in relations with US, calls for 'mutual respect' [View All]

Source: Associated Press

Bolivia's Morales proposes total change in relations with US, calls for 'mutual respect'
CARLOS VALDEZ | Associated Press Writer
3:21 PM EDT, May 21, 2009

http://snsimages.tribune.com.nyud.net:8090/media/photo/2009-05/47037212.jpg

Bolivia's Foreign Minister David Chequehuanca, left, shakes hands with
Thomas Shannon, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
affairs, during a meeting in La Paz, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Shannon is
on a two-day visit to Bolivia. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) (Juan Karita, AP /
May 20, 2009)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales called for an about-face in relations with Washington on Thursday, saying past diplomatic spats can be overcome if the new U.S. government refrains from meddling in Bolivia's affairs.

Morales met with U.S. envoy Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, who said their talks were a "good start" toward improving ties.

Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador last year, claiming he had conspired with the Bolivian opposition to incite violence. U.S. officials denied it, and former President George W. Bush's administration kicked out Bolivia's envoy to Washington and suspended trade preferences.

Morales said Thursday the two nations must treat each other with "mutual respect" and Washington should not interfere in Bolivia's internal matters — which he frequently accuses U.S. officials of doing.


Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lt-bolivia-us,0,3133524.story

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All the following happened in Venezuela long before Evo Morales was elected:

Five times in five years Bolivia has been the scene of major citizen rebellions revolving around policies that were sent here from Washington:

•In April 2000 the citizens of Cochabamba rebelled against a water privatization coerced on them by the World Bank (the Bank's chief is appointed by the White House). The deal handed the city's public water system over to the US engineering giant, Bechtel, which promptly raised water rates far beyond the reach of the city's poor. That is the same Bechtel to which Bush later handed a no-bid mega-contract to rebuild Iraq.
•In February 2003 thirty-four Bolivians lost their lives during public protests against an economic belt tightening package imposed on Bolivia by the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. The US is the only single nation in the world which holds a veto over major IMF policies.
•In October 2003 more than fifty Bolivians were killed during protests against a proposed gas export deal to California, a deal backed by the US Embassy here.
•In January 2005 the city of El Alto revolted over another water privatization deal imposed on the country by the World Bank.
•In May and June 2005 a national uprising swept Bolivia, opposing privatization of the country’s vast oil and gas reserves. That privatization was yet another economic experiment pushed on the country by the IMF and World Bank.

http://www.democracyctr.org/newsletter/vol66.htm