The next Venezuela: Bolivia

Bolivia elected Morales, an ally of Chavez, and the right-wing began an immediate campaign to undermine the newly-elected government. As in Venezuela, Spain is playing a crucial role in Bush's efforts to crush the populist movement in South America. Rather than deal with the causes of the region's unhappiness, it is far easier to to manipulate forces to bring about the overthrow of the elected governments that refuse to read from Bush's script. In Venezuela, the U.S. has backed a secessionist campaign of the oil-rich Zulia province. In Bolivia, we are now pushing for secession of the wealthiest provinces. It was just this strategy that created the nation of Panama, when the U.S. engineered a secessionist movement from Colombia and prevented the Colombian Navy from putting it down. We then quickly "recognised" the newly-created nation, which coincidentally was happy to sign over the Canal to the U.S.

Unable to control the region's unhappiness with their role as a cheap source of raw commodities and a system where nearly all of the money goes to a select few backed by the military, the U.S. and Spain seem to be falling back on an alternative: Divide the haves from the have-nots and redraw the national boundaries to reflect this. The poor can have their populist governments, and we can denounce, isolate, and scheme against them at our leisure. The wealthy can have their own countries, so long as they realise who is the boss, at least. We can then pour aid into these newly-created wealthy nations' militaries and use them as a proxy against those who won't "play ball". It's cheaper than outright invasion and occupation, and the flow of cheap commodities isn't interrupted. We can always ignore human rights abuses in nations like Chile, Colombia, and Peru, and play up those in the countries that don't back us.

Bolivia's president accuses opposition of plotting to oust him
Brazil Sun
Sunday 23rd December, 2007
(IANS)

Bolivian President Evo Morales, faced with a strong demand for autonomy in the eastern states of the country, turned down the demand by the rightist ruled states and accused them of plotting to overthrow him.

'If conservatives want me out of office, they will have to take me out dead from Government Palace,' Morales said, accusing the opposition leaders of planning to overthrow him, Spain's EFE news agency quoted Morales as saying Sunday.

Morales was addressing hundreds of miners in the town of Llallagua in the Andean province of Potosi Saturday.

'We have no fear of the oligarchs,' said the president, who has said on numerous occasions that the opposition is conspiring to oust him.

The government of Morales, which assumed office in January 2006, has currently been facing autonomy demand from leaders of four eastern provinces - Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando - which account for around two-thirds of the total gross domestic product of Bolivia.

Santa Cruz, stronghold of the opposition-ruled eastern provinces, has recently approved an 'autonomy statute', under which it will retain nearly two-thirds of the tax revenues it turns over to central authorities. Following the move, Beni and Pando declared autonomy in a massive rally two days later and another region, Tarija, is expected to follow suit.

Morales said the moves towards autonomy were illegal, and warned to take help of the army to maintain Bolivia's territorial integrity.

Now, accusing the opposition of trying to topple him, the leftist leader said, 'The right, the conservatives, the servants of North American imperialism are reaching out to the armed forces.'

In November, Morales had said the US, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar along with the country's opposition were conspiring to oust him.

However, Bolivian opposition leaders have rejected the allegations and demanded the president provide proof of his accusations.