News summary update

Evo Morales marked his first month in power which he said felt more like a week. Doctors said his rigorous schedule (he gets up at 5am and works into the night) had led to health problems and that he should take things a little easier after Morales suffered a number of dizziness attacks.

COCA

• US for the first time said it would be willing to discuss expansion of coca production based on a study by the EU on the “legal market” of coca in Bolivia.
• Morales was re-elected as leader of the six federations of coca-growers in Chapare despite attempts to resign after more than 20 years as its leader. At the meeting, the Federation issued a resolution to expel all US agencies from Chapare which led to the suspension of a US-Bolivia bilateral meeting. Morales later stated that they could stay if they “observed Bolivian laws.” The Federation also approved a limit of one cato (1,600 sq metres) of coca per member of the union, which Morales argued proved the “maturity of the union.”
• Minister of the Presidency, Juan Ramon de la Quintana  proposed changes to law 1008 passed in 1988 for its repressive character in order to decriminalise coca, redirect energies against drugs, reassert the presumption of innocence (which has led to 70% of people imprisoned without adequate trial), investigation of corruption and the assertion of an indigenous strategy to fight drug-trafficking.
 
HYDROCARBONS

• Soliz Rada, Bolivia’s hydrocarbons minister said that all multinational energy companies had expressed willingness to negotiate and expected to sign new contracts by 30 June
• Jorge Alvorado, head of state hydrocarbons firm YPFB said the Government aimed to build a continent-wide energy alliance, PetroAmerica made up of State firms such as Petrobras, YPFB and PDVSA to guarantee energy security for the Continent and to compete with major multinationals.
• Ricardo Alba, president of Bolivian customs said he will refer Andina SA, a subsidiary of the Spanish-Argentine energy company Repsol YPF SA, Bolivia for smuggling 230,400 barrels of crude petroleum worth $9.2 million.  Royalties and taxes on the petroleum would have totaled $215,000. An arrest warrant was issued for Julio Gavito, head of Repsol. Repsol denied the allegations saying it was based on misunderstanding. Repsol said accusations would put in doubt there proposed intentions to explore joint contracts with the Bolivian state company, YPFB. The Spanish Government announced it would help defend YPFB and intervened diplomatically at the announce of the arrest, with Prime Minister Zapatero saying it would do "nothing to improve Bolivia-Spanish relations"
• Government announced investigations into environmental damage in the Chaco region caused by Repsol and British Gas following a meeting between Morales and the Assembly of Guarani people. The Government said the investigation didn’t threaten companies’ investments but that energy companies had to respect the law.

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY/AUTONOMY

• The Mixed Constitutional Commission met to study eleven different proposals for elections for the Constituent Assembly amidst concerns that time was running out to meet deadlines for elections on 2nd July. Vice-President Garcia Linera stressed need for social movements to mobilise to guarantee constitution and not to give the oligarchy space. The main divisions remained on how the assembly should be elected –with MAS and others arguing based on constituency and Podemos and other regional groups arguing based on department.  Indigenous groups protested that the MAS proposal did not include a special allocation for indigenous peoples.
• Conflict grew between the Bolivian executive and a large number of Santa Cruz deputies who said that the referendum on autonomy had to be legally binding on the Constituent Assembly. Bolivian officials and social movements stressed that the Constituent Assembly had to have the power to overwrite everything and not be bound by previous decisions and also raised concerns about Santa Cruz´s proposed question for the referendum which talks about departments “administering their natural resources”. The conflict was exacerbated when Ruben Costas, Prefect for Santa Cruz issued a decree for the management of Rio Grande water reserves which representatives of various parties said was “illegal and unconstitutional.”
• Many social movements met in Santa Cruz to discuss Constituent Assembly and to reiterate their demands for: a true nationalisation (State involved in whole production chain with social participation), rights and self-determination for indigenous peoples, land redistribution, equal participation by men and women, rights for people with disabilities, primacy of Constituent Assembly over autonomy, unitary State which recognises plurality, social and collective rights having primacy over individual rights, opposition to any Free Trade Treaty and any treaty that doesn’t fully involve Bolivian people, plurality in education and health policies, state recovery and development of national policies on mining and initiation of legal proceedings against Goni. It concluded: “It is not difficult to understand what we want. But we will make it clear. This country is ours and we want it for ourselves, for all men and women who live in Bolivia.”

TRADE & DEBT

• World Bank hosted trade arbitration panel, ICSID announced that it had accepted a legal claim by Chilean company Quiborax for the withdrawal of its mining concessions in Salar de Uyuni in June 2004
• The Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) said it would consider debt cancellation for Bolivia at its meeting in April. Bolivia owes $1.6 billion to BID, 30% of its debt prior to IMF cancellation in December.
• Japan announced the cancellation of the remaining $63 million debt owed by Bolivia, joining the US, Belgium, Spain and the UK who had previously announced cancellation of bilateral debt. Bolivia’s largest bilateral creditors are currently Brazil, China and Germany.
• Juan Morales, head of Bolivia Central Bank announced that Bolivian exports had risen by 53% in January 2006 compared with the previous year but said changes were needed to ensure it helped reduce unemployment and poverty
• The Foreign Ministry held a seminar with visiting US trade academics and activists in which Vice-President Garcia Linera said the country had to make the most of opportunities for trade but that too often policy had been based on the interests of a few exporters and not the majority of the country. He said there would be an end to “knee-jerk globalisation”

OTHER NEWS

• Bolivia continued to suffer from heavy rains which has affected 33,856 families, 12,742 of whom are in need of humanitarian aid.
• Marking one month, the new government’s commitment to education and health were highlighted in several papers including the creation of a vice-ministry for traditional medicine and the initiation of a literacy programme led by 24 Cuban advisors.
• Bolivia suspended the auction of a $500 million “El Mutun” iron mine project for 90 days, saying it will seek to produce steel or iron inside the country rather than export its ore to steelmakers abroad. Amongst the bidders for the project were the world's biggest steelmaker, Mittal Steel Co as well as firms from China, India, Brazil and Argentina. The suspension triggered a day-long shutdown of the country's eastern border by protesters demanding the project, which is expected to create 2,000 jobs and produce 1.5 million tons of iron ore a year.
• In a meeting with the Confederation of Private Businessmen, Morales promised to follow policies of macro-economic stability and change to neo-liberal model whilst businessmen promised to support efforts to create jobs and to tackle corruption.
• Morales appointed three new leaders, including two women, of three notoriously corrupt state institutions — taxes, customs and roads —where he said "corruption is most concentrated."  In a 2005 survey by global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, Bolivia was ranked the 118th most-corrupt country out of 159.
• Morales caused controversy when he said some banana exporters were involved in drugs-smuggling. Miguel Zambrana, head of one of the largest banana export firms said he would sue Morales for damage. Morales said he would inaugurate commission which would examine the situation.
• Bolivian Senator Leonilda Zurita was barred from entering the United States over unfounded suspicions of terrorism. Morales criticised the move, whilst the US refused to comment on the case saying that the Senator was free to re-apply.
• Morales called for a trial to be initiated against former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni) for his responsibility for 32 deaths during February 2003. Goni is currently in the US and is already wanted for trial for more than 60 deaths in October 2003. He called on the US to extradite Goni.