Andeslandets venstreorienterede leder siden 2006 undlod at kundgøre nye nationaliseringer, men anklagede i stedet USAID for at “konspirere mod Bolivia” og følte sig oprørt over nylig udtalelse i Washington om Latinamerika.
In a May Day address, President Evo Morales linked the expulsion of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to a recent comment by US secretary of state John Kerry, who referred to Latin America as “the backyard” (baghave) of the superpower, BBC online reports Wednesday.
“Those who will be most hurt by the Bolivian government’s decision are the Bolivian citizens who have benefited from our collaborative work on education, agriculture, health, alternative development, and the environment,” USAID said in a response.
USAID has been working in Bolivia for almost five decades, and had a budget of 52,1 million US dollar for the country in 2010, according to its website (se neden for).
It cites as its main aims the strengthening of Bolivia’s health system and the provision of “equal access to health care by eliminating social exclusion”, as well as improving “the livelihoods of economically and socially disadvantaged people by increasing income and managing natural resources”.
On previous May Days, Mr Morales had announced the nationalisation of key industries, such as hydroelectric power and the electricity grid (net).
Speaking at a rally in La Paz on Wednesday, Mr Morales accused USAID of alleged “political interference in peasant unions and other social organisations”.
Mr Morales has threatened USAID with expulsion in the past, saying that its programmes have “political rather than social” ends.
In 2008, Mr Morales expelled the US ambassador and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for allegedly conspiring against his government.
Se mere om USAID i Bolivia på
http://bolivia.usaid.gov/otherpdfs/2010_09_FundingLevel-English.pdf
Og om Evo Morales på http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales
