After weeks of consideration, the Bolivian Senate sent a modified
Hydrocarbons Law back to the Congress for ratification. Unfortunately, the modifications favor ... the multinational oil companies. The Congress passed the legislation by a vote of 59 to 48. It is now up to President Mesa to either sign or veto the legislation.

When will the politicians in both the Bolivian Senate and the Congress ever learn? Or to put it another way, how much bribe money are these people receiving from the oil multinationals (aka global corporate empire) to water down the hydrocarbons law so as to benefit foreign oil companies operating in Bolivia, instead of the Bolivians themselves? Most readers will immediately think that the country wide blockades of March will now be repeated in the near future. They are correct.

Last week, US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, singled out Ecuador and Bolivia as countries where democracy not only needs defending but actually needs to be re-established! Can she not see, even with all her academic titles, that the root cause for the problems in Latin America are local regimes corrupted and held in place by the multinational corporations, primarily from the U.S.? Can she not see that attempting to foist US interests and policies is a violation of our respective national sovereignties and will only result in more uprisings from the awakened masses? How many times, does this have to be spelt out? The concern Ms. Rice expressed should be directed at curing the anti-values espoused by the US, both inside and outside its borders. This and this alone will cut out the root of many problems for the poor throughout the world, and not just in South America.

Evo Morales - rather upset

Speaking Sunday from Havana, Movement to Socialism (MAS) leader and Bolivian Deputy, Evo Morales, said that the Bolivian Congress had implicitly recognized oil contracts granted in 1996, which were constitutionally illegal. He also said they voted last Thursday, May 5th, to maintain the royalty paid for gas extraction at 18%, instead of the 50% approved in a national referendum in July 2004. Morales said that as soon as he returned to Bolivia on May 9th, he would be meeting with social organizations with a view of paralyzing the country once again in a protest against this traitorous decision by the politicians against the interests of the Bolivian people.

Does the recognition of these contracts also imply that the two ex-
Presidents of Bolivia, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Jorge Quiroga, as well as current President Carlos Mesa, will not be indicted for granting oil contracts without congressional approval?

Report from International Forecaster

Late last week, Bob Chapman of the International Forecaster, had this to say about the situation in Bolivia:

"Bolivia sits on the continent's second largest oil and gas reserve. This week its Congress will vote over how to split the wealth, which could lead to violent protests that could lead to the ousting of the second president in two years and a number of lawsuits by foreign oil firms. Leaders fear that their country's natural riches are being robbed.

"The opposite group of advocates prefers free-trade liberalism and globalization led by the nation's business sector, which fears foreign investment will leave. The demands by free-trade advocates have made the country ungovernable. Congress and business leaders want to keep oil royalties at 18%; others want them raised to 50%. The government needs $1.8 billion in investment to remove the oil and gas. This confrontation is not only about oil and gas; it is also about a cultural, political and ideological battle. It is about terrible deprivation and poverty. There have been more than 800 paralyzing blockades that have crippled commerce over the past 18 months. As a result, foreign investment has fallen from $1.1 billion in 1998 to $270 million last year. It might be a good idea for Venezuela to lend them the money for the project. They have the funds; share the same view on royalties and it should provide an excellent investment."

Bob Chapman's last statement that Venezuela could invest the US$1.8 billion to remove oil and gas in Bolivia is a novel idea. And with experts like Bob Chapman saying it would be an excellent investment, why not? PDVSA just opened up an office in Havana, has one in Buenos Aires so why not in La Paz? Since PDVSA is the keystone of multi-state oil company, Petrosur, it would make perfect sense. Of course, Washington would accuse Caracas (Chavez) of interfering in Bolivia's internal affairs. But even the most unread in U.S.-Latin American relations would see the silliness and hypocracy of that line.

The purpose of money

Currently, Venezuela has US$28 billion in foreign exchange reserves against an external debt of less than US$22 billion, and an internal debt of US$20 billion ( in local currency) which is a manageable 17% of GDP.
With the myriad of social programs underway in Venezuela, the internal debt has grown considerably from around US$7 billion in 1998, but in terms of the Venezuelan people and human dignity, every cent has been well worth it. What is money for anyway? To buy Japanese electronic goods in swanky Caracas malls, or to invest in ensuring that young mothers give birth safely? Or send people with ocular problems to Cuba to be cured in the Mission Miracle program? Or to be the only country and one of the few in the world guaranteeing lifelong treatment for HIV/Aids sufferers, free of charge? You won't read this sort of information in the Washington Post or the NY or LA Times!

The Light of the Dawn

I am certain that if a referendum were to be held in Bolivia on whether
PDVSA or Repsol, for example, should invest in Bolivia, probably 90% would vote for PDVSA, because they would know that President Chavez would be behind the company. The people would know that such an investment would also be the path to regional integration within the framework of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). ALBA places human beings at the center of the world rather than the US dollar or the unbridled, evil greed of the global corporate empire. (For non Spanish speakers "ALBA" in Spanish literally means "dawn". Thus, recently in Havana, when Venezuela and Cuba signed the documents, officially launching ALBA, Fidel spoke about "la luz del alba" - "the light of the dawn", also meaning ALBA in Spanish, in a great play on words. (to put it another way, hope for mankind.)

Now that the Bolivian people have been betrayed once again by the
descendants of their European masters, or the ruling political class in
Bolivia, we can expect to see re-opening of the gas war. The indigenous Aymara people will certainly not let this underhanded action of the Senate and the Congress go unpunished and there is a good chance that the government will be overthrown by street pressure as happened in Ecuador.

Evo Morales is the key figure in this crisis and a great deal of
responsibility rests on the shoulders of this "Andean Bolivar" in the
ongoing struggle for the dignity of the Bolivian people - historically
oppressed and exploited long before independence from Spain in 1825.

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