The Obama administration is sending special envoy Stephen Bosworth to talk with the North Koreans before the end of the year. At the same time, the administration appears to be going after the DPRK’s illicit funds – according to South Korean paper Chosun Ilbo:

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities believe that North Korea recently earned a lot of foreign currency by smuggling ivory from Africa and distributing fake Viagra as well as selling drugs and circulating counterfeit dollars.

I know Baby Newton Leroy and others have been preoccupied lately with the supposed chumminess of President Obama with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez (you mean, they actually smiled to one another when they spoke? And Obama received a book as a gift? OMIGOD, HE’S A TERRIST AFTER ALL – WE HAVE TO IMPEACH HIM!!!), and, as we know, presidents never exchange pleasantries with otherwise hostile leaders, according to the former House Speaker and philanderer during the Clinton impeachment farce (uh, right).

However, I thought this story about Bolivian leader Evo Morales and his claim that Obama “was behind an assassination plot,” which Obama refuted by saying that he “absolutely opposed and condemn(ed) any efforts at violent overthrows of democratically elected governments — wherever it happens in the hemisphere,” was more than a little odd.

From what I read, though, this seems to be a tactic that Morales employs when it suits him, and I found myself in rare agreement with the Murdoch Street Journal here in this account of how Morales foiled a recent assassination “plot” (quotes by the Journal – I should emphasize that this is not an Op-Ed but an example of the Journal’s otherwise thorough reporting).

The story also tells us the following…

Although several of the men (accused in the plot) were Hungarian, Hungary hasn’t been approached officially by Bolivia regarding what happened, according to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hungarian national security services had no prior knowledge of the plot, a security services official said.

Even as Bolivia said the alleged plotters were part of a wider conspiracy, friends of the men said they doubted the government’s version of events. Opposition politicians in Bolivia called on the government to offer detailed proof of its claims.

Our government has had tensions with Morales for some time, dated back to this 2004 story (at least) under Dubya (Morales was elected president in December of the following year). Some of it has been fueled by what could be considered an overreaction from Bushco to Morales’ expulsion of our former ambassador Philip Goldberg last September for meeting with Santa Cruz Governor Rubén Costas.[22] Costas, founder of Autonomy for Bolivia,[23] has pressed for democracy and autonomy for Bolivia’s regions, as Wikipedia tells us here.

Yes, it was a stupid fit of pique for Morales, but in addition to expelling Bolivia’s ambassador to the U.S. in response, Former President Reality Avoidance put Bolivia on the counter-narcotics blacklist because of its refusal to participate in the War on Drugs in September ‘08, and he also suspended that country’s trade preferences the following month, which definitely suited Morales for propaganda purposes if nothing else.

And I’m sure it also didn’t endear Morales to our government when he decided to end Bolivia’s participation in the School of the Americas based in Fort Benning, GA, as noted here, in October 2007.

This post from SOA Watch tells us that the group has applauded the decision of President Obama to shut down Guantanamo and the CIA’s secret prisons, but I believe many of us would like to see an end to the School of the Americas as well, either through an executive order or a cutoff by Congress of funding (an amendment to legislation that would have accomplished that failed by six votes in 2007). In addition to helping this administration to reestablish the primacy of the rule of law in foreign relations, it would also deprive characters such as Morales of an excuse to blame this country in the event that he fails to govern in a manner befitting a leader of a democratic republic.

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The last U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents left Bolivia on Thursday, ordered out by President Evo Morales even as Bolivian police reported that coca cultivation and cocaine processing are on the rise.

Morales demanded the DEA’s exit in November as part of a dispute between U.S. and Bolivian officials that included his expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the Bush administration’s decertification of Bolivia as ineffective in the drug war.

The departure over recent weeks of three dozen agents ends the DEA’s presence in Bolivia after more than three decades. Senior law enforcement officials said it was the first time a DEA operation had been ordered out of a country en masse.

DEA officials declined to comment on the departures but said earlier that the agents will be reassigned to countries bordering Bolivia to monitor the situation.

See also:

¡Adios DEA!

Why Bolivia Quit the U.S. War on Drugs

Bolivia orders US enforcement agency out of country

Over a 35-year history, the DEA generally has maintained good relations with host Latin American nations, which take advantage of its global intelligence network and training programs in the United States to fight drug traffickers.

Recent exceptions include Bolivia, where Morales has accused the DEA of engaging in espionage. Similar charges were leveled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who has reduced the DEA’s presence from 10 agents to two since 2005 by refusing to renew agents’ work permits.

Coca cultivation and cocaine processing in Bolivia are still far below the levels seen in the 1980s before Colombia began to overtake Bolivia and Peru as the leading coca-farming and cocaine-trafficking country. Colombia produces about six times more cocaine than Bolivia, according to recent international estimates.

But the trends concern counternarcotics officials. In 2008, more than seven tons of cocaine was seized here, about five times the amount confiscated in 2006.

There was also a 24 percent increase in the number of illegal cocaine labs destroyed, evidence of increased production, and 55 percent more pounds of coca leaf were farmed over the two-year period, according to figures kept by Bolivia’s antinarcotics police force.

There has also been an alarming “Colombianization” of lab methods used to produce higher volumes of cocaine. Bolivians arrested six suspected Colombian traffickers in the city of Cochabamba last May. New evidence indicates that more Bolivian cocaine is finding its way to U.S. and European markets.

Bolivian law allows the cultivation of 40,000 acres of coca to supply traditional demand in this country where the chewing of coca leaves is an indigenous tradition. Coca tea is a common beverage used to mitigate the effects of high altitude.

But counternarcotics agencies have complained that twice the amount of coca needed for traditional consumption is being grown, and that the excess is used to produce cocaine.

Posted on Nov 19, 2008

By Amy Goodman

Evo Morales knows about “change you can believe in.” He also knows what happens when a powerful elite is forced to make changes it doesn’t want.

Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia, the poorest country in South America. He was inaugurated in January 2006. Against tremendous internal opposition, he nationalized Bolivia’s natural-gas fields, transforming the country’s economic stability and, interestingly, enriching the very elite that originally criticized the move.

Yet last September, the backlash came to a peak. In an interview in New York this week, Morales told me: “The opposition, the right-wing parties … decided to do a violent coup. … They couldn’t do it.”

In response, presidents from South American nations met in Chile for an emergency summit, led by the two women presidents, Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Cristina Kirchner of Argentina. The group issued a statement condemning the violence and supporting Morales.

Morales continued in our interview: “The reason why I’m here in the U.S.: I want to express my respect to the international community, because everybody condemned the coup against democracy to the rule of law—everybody but the U.S., but the ambassador of the U.S. It’s incredible.”

After the attempted coup, Morales ejected U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, declaring, “He is conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia.” Morales went on: “He used to call me the Andean bin Laden. And the coca growers, he used to call them Taliban. … Permanently, from the State Department of the U.S., I have been accused of being a drug trafficker and a terrorist. And even now that I’m president, that continues on the part of the embassy. I know it does not come from the American people.”

Morales has now given the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration three months to leave the country, and announced at the United Nations Monday that the DEA will not be allowed back. Morales was a “cocalero,” a coca grower. Coca is central to Bolivian indigenous culture and the local economy. As Roger Burbach, director of the Center for the Study of the Americas, writes, “Morales advocated ‘Coca Yes, Cocaine No,’ and called for an end to violent U.S.-sponsored coca eradication raids, and for the right of Bolivian peasants to grow coca for domestic consumption, medicinal uses and even for export as an herb in tea and other products.”

Morales aims to preserve the Bolivian heritage of coca growing, while eliminating the scourge of drug trafficking. He says the U.S. uses the war on drugs as a cover to destabilize his country: “If they really fought against drug trafficking, it would be very different.” He said the South American leaders are finally organizing amongst themselves: “We are actually setting up a national intelligence in collaboration with our neighbors Argentina, Chile, Brazil. And that way, the fight against drug trafficking is going to be more effective, but it’s going to be something that has a political element in it. If we don’t permit the DEA to come back, that doesn’t mean we’ll break relationships with the U.S.”

The resurgent democracies in Latin America are hoping for better relations with an Obama administration. On the election of the first African-American U.S. president, the first indigenous president of Bolivia told me, “Maybe we can complement each other to look for equality among people, people who are here on Mother Earth.” After we spoke, Morales headed off to Washington to visit the Lincoln Memorial and to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “I want to honor my brothers, the movement, the Afro-American movement. I have the obligation to honor the people who preceded us, the ones who fought for the respect of human rights and rights in general.”

Thousands are gathering outside Fort Benning, Ga., this weekend for the annual mass protest and civil disobedience against the U.S. School of the Americas (now called WHINSEC), a military training facility that is alleged to have trained hundreds of Latin American soldiers who have gone home to commit human-rights violations. The wounds of U.S. intervention in Latin America are still raw. President-elect Obama has an opportunity to reach out and grab the extended olive branch being offered by President Morales.

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. She has been awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the “Alternative Nobel” prize, and will receive the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.

© 2008 Amy Goodman

LA PAZ – A crise financeira internacional atingirá a Bolívia em dobro, após os Estados Unidos decidirem fechar seu mercado para os têxteis e manufaturas bolivianos, em meio à crise política do país sul-americano. O governo norte-americano iniciou um processo para suspender a Bolívia do Sistema de Preferências Tarifárias (ATPDEA), sob a alegação de que o governo boliviano não colabora na luta antidrogas. “É uma lástima que a Bolívia perca o ATPDEA, justamente quando devia assegurar o maior mercado do mundo, na ante-sala de uma crise financeira de escala mundial”, disse o presidente do Instituto Boliviano de Comércio Exterior (IBCE), Ernesto Antelo, ligado ao empresariado.

Há quase três semanas o presidente Evo Morales expulsou o embaixador dos EUA, Philip Goldberg, o que piorou a relação entre os países. Morales acusou o representante norte-americano de ingerência na política boliviana. O governo dos Estados Unidos, que nega a acusação, respondeu expulsando o embaixador boliviano de Washington.

La Paz minimizou a perda, prevista para começar no fim de outubro. Segundo o ministro de Relações Exteriores, David Choquehuanca, essas preferências responderam em 2007 por apenas 17% das vendas do país aos EUA. O ministro da Fazenda, Luis Alberto Arce, afirmou que a crise no sistema financeiro dos Estados Unidos terá efeito “mínimo” sobre a economia boliviana.
Agência Estado

Rizzolo: Engraçado, a turma do socialismo bolivariano, ” pinta e borda”, pincelam o ódio em relação aos EUA de todas as formas, expulsam o embaixador americano, gritam e xingam os EUA e ainda querem receber as benesses tarifárias. Os maiores prejudicados infelizmente, são os empresários exportadores. O governo boliviano, enfrentará dificuldades em relação a nova Constituição que o presidente Evo Morales pretende levar a referendo, haverá resistência por parte do empresariado.

O índio Morales, que de índio no meu entender nada tem, está se complicando cada vez mais. Aliás, por falar em índio, a moda de ” virar índio” pegou na América Latina, no Brasil por exemplo, muitos descobriram que virar índio é um bom negócio, o problema é que para tirar fotos eles precisam se vestir de “índio”, colocar aquele bermudão, e um penacho que geralmente é comprado na Rua 25 de março, em São Paulo. O que tem de “índio” comprando pena na Rua 25 de março não é brincadeira. Nada contra se vestir de “índio”, o problema é que no frio pode-se pegar pneumonia, principalmente na Raposa Serra do Sol. Nada contra os índios de verdade, só em relação aos ” covers”. Só um pouquinho de humor judaico, vai.. (risos..)

LA PAZ – O embaixador dos Estados Unidos na Bolívia, Philip Goldberg, disse hoje que a decisão do presidente Evo Morales de expulsá-lo teria “sérias conseqüências”. Segundo comunicado divulgado pela embaixada dos EUA em La Paz pouco antes da partida de Goldberg, aparentemente o governo boliviano “não avaliou corretamente” os possíveis desdobramentos do ato.

Evo acusou o diplomata de conspirar e promover a divisão boliviana. O funcionário e o governo norte-americano negam qualquer ação nesse sentido.

Goldberg mencionou o problema do comércio de cocaína na Bolívia. Segundo eles, esse é um problema possível de combater em conjunto. “Mas sem cooperação, nós fracassaremos.”

A Bolívia é o terceiro maior produtor de cocaína no mundo, atrás de Colômbia e Peru. Washington destina US$ 100 milhões anuais à Bolívia para a erradicação de cultivos de coca e fábricas de refino da droga.

Em retaliação ao ato de Evo, os EUA também expulsaram o embaixador boliviano. Além disso, o presidente da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, também expulsou o embaixador dos EUA, em solidariedade ao colega sul-americano. Também Honduras adiou o recebimento das credenciais de um novo embaixador americano, e o presidente da Nicarágua, Daniel Ortega, descartou ir a um evento no qual estaria o presidente dos EUA, George W. Bush. As informações são da Dow Jones.

Agência Estado

Rizzolo: Uma atitude deste tipo, de expulsão sem um motivo claro, concreto e óbvio, na leva a pensar que algo muito além da questão política em relação ao governo existe. Com efeito, Washington destina US$ 100 milhões anuais à Bolívia para a erradicação de cultivos de coca e fábricas de refino da droga. Esse tipo de operação dos EUA desagrada a muitos, que de certa forma, apóiam o governo de Evo Morales. Nada justifica uma atitude de expulsão, quer da Bolívia ou da Venezuela; se analisarmos os envolvimentos de forma velada desses países com as Farc, poderemos fazer uma análise até que ponto questões que não se referem à situação política real da Bolívia precipitaram essa absurda postura de expulsão. E a esquerda brasileira, qual a posição a respeito disso? Silêncio, apenas um profundo silêncio, afinal estamos falando de Evo Morales e Chavez os guardiões do ” socialismo bolivariano”. Bom mesmo é o presidente Lula ficar longe desta turma.

So I have been wanting to start this blog on Latin America to follow the politics and development of my much loved Spanish speaking region across the pacific but have been unable to find the time. It appears the intensity of the situation in Bolivia is the perfect motivation to start blogging!

News organizations are reporting that the American ambassador Philip Goldberg will arrive back in the US on Sunday the 14th of September 2008, after Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled the diplomat on grounds of supporting government opposition groups. “The order declaring Goldberg persona non grata ’subscribes to the struggle of indigenous people not only in Bolivia but in all of Latin America, who have for 500 years fought empires of the time,’ Morales, an Aymara Indian, told reporters in La Paz (AFP).

So this is indeed the most important aspect to remember here – the entire historical context of US involvement across Latin America, and specifically the anti-insurgency campaigns launched in many countries from the 1950s. I am yet to do a deeper research into Morales specific government and support, yet when action like this is taken there is a great deal more to it than simple political manuevering.

Relations to the 1970s Chilian president Salvador Allende and his untimely demise under US interests spring to mind. Also the extend to which the Bolivian president is receiving support across Latin America in his expulsion action is also a telling sign of his authenticity. The growing political movement across the region built mainly through Venezualan president Hugo Chavez seems to be gaining some momentum, and certainly in these instances some more allies. What needs to be the central focus to these movements however is their real capacity to bring change to the region in the form of developmental goals and processes.

What I think is encouraging at least in the current context is the decisive shift in these countries away from the directions followed in the past and towards genuine regional dialogue and engagement.

Desde BoliviaSol

Los funcionarios del Departamento de Estado de EU se han declarado incapaces de entender por qué su embajador, el Sr. Goldberg, fue expulsado de Bolivia.

Philip Goldberg

Sólo quieren ayudar a reducir la pobreza, dicen, pero a través de conceptos neoliberales que en Bolivia han resultado desastrosos. No nos metemos en asuntos ajenos, dicen, mientras que Goldberg se reúne con acérrimos opositores al gobierno elegido y popular, y, en un país mayoritariamente indígena, se codea con los jefes de tropas de choque racistas. Destinamos cuantiosas partidas a Bolivia, dicen, cuando se refieren mayormente a emplear con sus fondos de USAID a los ex-funcionarios de anteriores gobiernos neoliberales, o a subsidiar a ONG antigubernamentales. El Sr. Goldberg es una persona magnífica que siempre se comporta de manera profesional, aseveran.

Puedes leer el artículo completo en Bolivasol

US-Venezuelan relations are said to have hit a new low

A series of tit-for-tat expulsions has left the US without ambassadors in three Latin American countries.

Bolivia and Venezuela have expelled their US envoys, accusing Washington of trying to oust Bolivia’s government.

Meanwhile, Honduras has refused the credentials of a new US ambassador, postponing his appointment.

Washington has responded by throwing out envoys from Bolivia and Venezuela and freezing the assets of three aides to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The US regretted the actions of Venezuela and Bolivia, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“This reflects the weakness and desperation of these leaders as they face internal challenges, and an inability to communicate effectively internationally in order to build international support,” he said.

Bolivian and Venezuelan allegations – including that the US supports continuing anti-government protests in Bolivia – were false “and the leaders of those countries know it”, Mr McCormack added.

Relations between the US and Latin American opponents such as Mr Chavez had seemed to be on a holding pattern – but the situation has changed in a matter of days.

This week’s arrival in Venezuela of two Russian bomber planes taking part in a military exercise is not thought to have helped the situation.

And with more joint military exercises in the pipeline, our correspondent says it could take a while for tensions to subside.

Bolivia accusations

Freezing the assets of the three Venezuelan aides, the US Treasury accused them of “materially assisting the narcotics trafficking” of rebels in Colombia.

All three had “armed, abetted and funded the Farc, even as it terrorised and kidnapped innocents”, according to a statement from the US Treasury referring to the left-wing rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

Analysts say the trio – Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva and Ramon Rodriguez Chacin – are members of Mr Chavez’s inner circle.

Evo Morales accused the US envoy of meddling in Bolivia’s internal affairs

Mr Carvajal Barrios is a military intelligence director who has protected Farc drug shipments from seizure, claimed the US statement.

Mr Rangel Silva is another intelligence chief who had pushed for greater co-operation between Venezuela and the Farc, the US Treasury alleged.

And Mr Rodriguez Chacin, who until Monday was Venezuela’s justice minister, is Caracas’ main “weapons contact” for the Farc, the statement charged.

The flurry of diplomatic expulsions began on Thursday, when Bolivia threw out the American ambassador to La Paz, Philip Goldberg.

President Evo Morales said the US envoy had been siding with a violent opposition movement in the east of Bolivia, where groups are demanding greater autonomy and a bigger share of gas export revenues.

‘Go to hell’

US officials said the allegations were baseless, but nonetheless expelled the Bolivian ambassador to Washington in retaliation.

This prompted the Venezuelan leader to step into the fray alongside his Bolivian ally.

President Chavez gave US ambassador Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave Caracas, telling him: “Go to hell 100 times.”

On Friday, Washington responded by giving the Venezuelan ambassador his marching orders.

Now Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has refused to accept the credentials of a new US ambassador.

“We are not breaking relations with the United States. We only are [doing this] is solidarity with Morales, who has denounced the meddling of the United States in Bolivia’s internal affairs,” Mr Zelaya said.

In a separate development, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega said he supports Bolivia, but did not announce whether he would take any action against the US envoy in Managua.

A growing number of left-wing Latin American governments have backed Mr Chavez’s anti-US rhetoric.

The region has also benefited from the Venezuelan leader’s generosity with oil.

But the US is a leading trade partner and a major aid donor to Latin America, so few in the region will be happy relations have plummeted to this new low, according to our correspondent.

He says this diplomatic row is serious but will probably soon blow over, while Bolivia’s problems are only likely to get worse.

The US Treasury move comes a day after Mr Chavez expelled the US envoy

The US Treasury has frozen the assets of two senior Venezuelan officials it accuses of aiding Colombian rebels, in an escalating diplomatic row.

The US said Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva were “materially assisting the [Farc rebels'] narcotics trafficking”.

The move came as the US revealed plans to throw out Venezuela’s envoy, after Caracas expelled the US ambassador.

The US and Bolivia have also engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.

Relations between Washington and Caracas are not thought to have been helped by this week’s arrival in Venezuela of two Russian bomber planes taking part in a military exercise.

The latest row began when Bolivia threw out the US ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, accusing him of meddling in the country’s internal affairs.

President Evo Morales said the American envoy had been openly siding with an increasingly violent opposition movement in the east of the country.

US officials said the allegations were baseless, but nonetheless expelled the Bolivian ambassador to Washington in retaliation.

This prompted the Venezuelan leader, a Bolivian ally, to step into the fray.

On Thursday, President Hugo Chavez gave US ambassador Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave Caracas, telling him: “Go to hell 100 times.”

The spat between oil-exporting Venezuela and the US is in neither side’s interest.

The US is a leading trade partner and a major aid donor to Latin America, so few in the region will be happy relations have plummeted to this new low, says our correspondent.

Bolivian presidentti Evo Morales on määrännyt Yhdysvaltain suurlähettilään, Philip Goldbergin, lähtemään maasta. Morales syyttää lähettilästä maan hajottamiseen tähtäävästä toiminnasta. “Emme tarvitse henkilöitä, jotka ovat separatisteja, jotka lietsovat eripuraa, jotka juonittelevat yhtenäisyyttä vastaan”, presidentti sanoi puheessaan viime keskiviikkona.

Goldberg, entinen Yhdysvaltain Kosovo-operaation johtaja, on tukenut Bolivian rikkaiden maakuntien protesteja. Hän sanoi viime viikon perjantaina, että Yhdysvaltain “on puututtava Bolivian asioihin” maan epävakauden vuoksi.

LA Times: Bolivia orders U.S. ambassador expelled (11.9.08)

IPS: BOLIVIA: U.S. Ambassador Expelled for Allegedly Supporting Violent Opposition (11.9.08)

CARACAS – O presidente da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, deu 72 horas para o embaixador americano em Caracas deixar o país, em um ato que disse ser em solidariedade ao governo da Bolívia, cujo representante foi expulso de Washington nesta quinta-feira, 11. “Já basta de tanta merda de vocês, ianques de merda”, declarou o líder venezuelano, em um ato político no Estado de Carabobo.

“Na Venezuela, os povos do mundo têm um país solidário. Há milhões de nós dispostos a lutar pela Bolívia”, continuou. Mais cedo, Chávez disse que se presidente boliviano, Evo Morales, fosse “derrubado” ou “morto” durante os protestos da oposição que agitam a Bolívia, haveria “sinal verde para apoiar qualquer movimento armado” no país.

O líder venezuelano destacou que seu governo “quer a paz”, mas está disposto a “exigir respeito” para os governos e líderes legítimos da América Latina. Na quarta-feira, Evo pediu a expulsão do embaixador americano em La Paz, Philip Goldberg, acusando-o de incentivar o separatismo em seu país.

Nesta quinta, Washington respondeu que a medida foi um “erro grave”, e também expulsou o representante boliviano do país.

A Bolívia vive nesta quinta o terceiro dia consecutivo de violência em várias regiões do país, todas controladas por opositores autonomistas que exigem a restituição de um imposto sobre o gás e o petróleo que antes era repassado para os governos dos departamentos bolivianos e são contra a nova proposta constitucional do governo.

Até agora, o Exército boliviano não interveio na crise, mas Evo alertou que sua “paciência tem limite.”

Agência Estado

Rizzolo:Bem agora eu pergunto: Até quando a esquerda brasileira, muito bem representada no governo do presidente Lula, pode continuar apoiando Chavez nos seus destemperos? Como o Brasil pode se igualar a esse tipo de conduta política marginal, ao embarcar nas propostas de Chavez, no falso conceito de ” solidariedade latino americana “. O Brasil precisa se diferenciar destas posturas, não podemos compactuar e chancelar essa violência ideológica gratuita contra os EUA. Observem o nível de discussão política argumentativa de Chavez para legitimar a expulsão do embaixador. Observem também o silêncio da esquerda, com certeza no fundo estão aplaudindo esse teatro de baixo nível do “socialismo do século 21″. Eu conheço a Venezuela, estive nas favelas de lá, sei que o povo não aprova isso. Ah! Mas o Rizzolo é mal agradecido, foi para lá de graça, a convite e ainda reclama, malha.

Fui, agradeci o convite, tive a oportunidade de conhecer ministros do governo Chavez, apoiei até certo ponto. Mas soube ter bom senso e parar, tive dignidade e reconheci que o caminho estava errado, e acertei, está aí a prova. Pior são aqueles que nunca foram, se consideram da esquerda, e apóiam o que nem sequer conhecem. Terão que pagar a passagem, para reconhecerem que estão errados, porque uma coisa Chavez sabe fazer, não gasta vela boa com defuntos ruins. – obs. o pessoal da esquerda deve estar falando ” que judeu pretencioso, hein ! “…(risos..)

WASHINGTON – O presidente da Bolívia, Evo Morales, cometeu um “grave erro”, que prejudicou “seriamente” a relação com os Estados Unidos ao expulsar o embaixador americano, afirmou nesta quinta-feira, 11, o Departamento de Estado dos EUA. “A ação do presidente Evo é um grave erro, que prejudica seriamente a relação bilateral”, disse o porta-voz do Departamento de Estado, Sean McCormack, lendo um comunicado.

Evo anunciou na quarta-feira a expulsão do embaixador Philip Goldberg. “Eu pedi a nosso chanceler que envie ao embaixador uma mensagem informando-o da decisão do governo nacional e do presidente de que ele precisa retornar ao seu país”, afirmou o presidente em um discurso no Palácio Quemado, em La Paz.

“Sem medo de ninguém, sem medo do império. Hoje, diante de vocês, diante do povo boliviano, declaro o senhor Goldberg, embaixador dos EUA, ‘persona non grata’”, continuou Evo, classificando Goldberg como “especialista em estimular conflitos separatistas.”

Segundo o presidente, o embaixador americano trabalhou entre 1994 e 1996 como “chefe de escritórios do Departamento de Estado para a Bósnia durante a guerra separatista dos Bálcãs” e entre 2004 e 2006 foi chefe de missão em Pristina, Kosovo. “Ali consolidou a separação ou independência dessa região, deixando milhares de mortos.”

“Esta decisão que tomamos é uma homenagem à luta histórica de nossos povos há 500 anos, 200 anos, como também há 20 anos. É uma luta permanente contra um modelo econômico imposto de cima e parafora”, destacou Evo.

O líder boliviano acusa o governo dos Estados Unidos de fomentar o separatismo no país, aprofundando a crise boliviana. Washington negou qualquer ação nesse sentido, considerando as declarações “sem fundamento”. Evo expulsou o embaixador no mesmo dia em que uma explosão em um gasoduto no sul do país prejudicou o envio de gás ao Brasil. O governo qualificou o ato como um “atentado terrorista” e culpou a oposição.
Agência Estado

Rizzolo: É interessante observar o ” modus operandi ” mental de Evo Morales, quando enfim finaliza as conclusões sempre procurando na história, um ” nexo causal” para dar legitimidade as suas teorias conspiratórias. Afirmar, que o embaixador americano trabalhou entre 1994 e 1996 como “chefe de escritórios do Departamento de Estado para a Bósnia durante a guerra separatista dos Bálcãs” e entre 2004 e 2006 foi chefe de missão em Pristina, Kosovo, e ali consolidou a separação ou independência dessa região, deixando milhares de mortos, é uma elucubração esquerdista que salta aos olhos de qualquer trotskista ou stalinista. Baseado em que afirma isso? Tudo a reboque dos chavões “anti imperialistas”, aquelas coisas antigas, ao som de fundo de uma canção de Mercedes Sosa. Enfim chega a ser hilário, o pior é a esquerda brasileira aplaudindo esse teatro.

Bem fez os EUA, em responder na mesma moeda ao expulsar o embaixador da Bolívia. Um leitor fez uma brincadeirinha a meu respeito, disse que meu final, por falar o que me dá na cabeça, um dia será como o do Goldberg. Se depender daqueles que flertam com a falta de democracia, e como não sou diplomata, realmente vou ter que ir para Israel.