by the El Reportero news services
Evo Morales
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A historic meeting that was to take place between Bolivian President Evo Morales and hundreds of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal leaders in late September was postponed due to violent political upheaval in the South American country set off by right-wing anti-government forces that oppose the indigenous leader’s reform program to distribute the country’s natural resources wealth more equitably among the low-income and poor population.
The Alaska meeting, which was scheduled for Sept. 20, was canceled Sept. 11 by Bolivia’s minister of Foreign Affairs and Cultures David Choquehuanca Cespedes, who said that “due to the circumstances related to the current political situation in Bolivia, it was impossible for President Evo Morales Ayma to visit…”
The letter was addressed to Mike Williams, president of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council; Kirk Francis, president of the National Tribal Environmental Council; and Joe Garcia, president of the National Congress of American Indians. The meeting was to be co-hosted by the three organizations.
The NCAI issued a statement to the hundreds of tribal leaders who had been planning to travel to Alaska for the special meeting saying that the meeting will be rescheduled “due to important governmental activities recently taking place in Bolivia.”
President Morales felt that it was in the best interest of Bolivia for him to remain in the country right now. Both he and the Embassy of Bolivia send their apologies but look forward to working on international indigenous issues in the close future.
Drugs in South America: A changing picture
The drug trade in South America is changing. Although cocaine remains the main illegal drug exported from the region, the market for it is no longer predominantly the U.S. Europe is now at least as important a market for cocaine produced in Peru and Bolivia as the U.S. Even from Colombia, increasing amounts of cocaine are going back to the Old World. This change has major implications for U.S. policy towards the region. The other big development over the past decade is that local markets have become larger. They are still not as lucrative as export markets, but, especially in Brazil, are profitable enough for gangs to fight over.
Ecuador ready for referendum
On Sept. 5, the electoral campaign for the country’s proposed new constitution closed ahead of the public referendum on Sept. 28. It is no coincidence that both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ lobbies chose to close their campaigns in Guayaquil. The city is Ecuador’s largest and wealthiest and is also the main political opposition stronghold (led by the city’s mayor, Jaime Nebot). The campaign, which has been marked by a high level of political polarization, and even some minor violent incidents, has been at its fiercest in Guayaquil.
Latin America lashes out at U.S. for not practicing what it preaches
Several Latin American heads of state took aim at the U.S. government for its hypocrisy in attempting to avert a financial meltdown by means of massive state intervention in the free market, the concept of which it has always upheld as sacrosanct. Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández, representing a country still bearing the wounds of its own financial crisis when the U.S., World Bank and IMF advocated painful, free-market prescriptions, was the most outspoken. Speaking at the UN general assembly in New York this week, she denounced “a casino economy, where it was thought that only capitalism can produce money.”
Why the U.S. financial crisis is good for Latin America
The near panic by U.S. policymakers over the state of the U.S. financial system is causing more than wry amusement in Latin America. Ardent leftwingers, such as President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Cristina Fernández of Argentina can barely stop themselves from gloating. What is more significant is that more sober citizens such as Alejandro Foxley, now Chile’s foreign minister, argue that the U.S. deserves what is happening.
