Bolivia: Opposition intents against Evo Morales
December 25, 2006
«On the territory of Bolivia foreign agents act, who move on vehicles with diplomatic license plates and meet retired army generals», - declared the President of the country speaking during live broadcast at Erbol radio station.
«Opposition also does all possible to regain power and remove an Indian president from the political arena», he also noted. According to him, first of all it is true for the governors of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando y Tarija departments that plan to proclaim autonomy.
They are the richest departments of Bolivia, which possess the main natural gas deposits being the basic item of Bolivian export. It is in these states they do everything so that not to allow adoption of the new constitution of Bolivia that gives rights to the Indian majority of the population.
The recent past of Bolivia was marked by the pre-term presidential abdication. That was how Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada, and then Carlos Mesa left. Will Evo Morales suffer the same fate? It is unlikely. At present the situation is still different. Morales enjoys vital support by the Indian population that constitutes a majority. He managed to gain the support of army, which is also important.
Nobody can deny the fact that during the last months Morales fulfilled his main election campaign promises: he convened a Constitutional Assembly and nationalised hydrocarbons. The country national profits, that rose steeply after nationalisation, for the first time in the history of Bolivia started to be used in the interest of the people, were directed to national programs that touch first of all the layers of society with scanty means.
Morales underlines that he is not looking for social confrontation and calls for a dialogue with opposition. Will the opposition meet the request will be shown by the time.