Latin American Update

Latin American Update

17th May 2006

BOLIVIA

Minister Vows to Recover Bolivia Natural Resources

PlanetArk

17th May 2006

UNITED NATIONS - Bolivia's foreign minister said on Monday his government would carry out plans to nationalize land, timber, silver and water resources but promised "legal security" and profits to foreign investors.

Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca Cespedes addressed a news conference at the start of an 11-day United Nations international forum on indigenous peoples, attended by hundreds of delegates from around the world.

"We are going to recover all of our national resources," Choquehuanca said. "We do not wish to stand by to any looting or pillaging of our national resources. We have laws and foreign investors have to abide by these laws and rules." "What we wish to do is to provide legal security for foreign investments," he said.

President Evo Morales, who was elected by a landslide vote in December and is Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent, on May 1 proclaimed government control of the country's oil and gas industry and gave foreign investors 180 days to negotiate new contracts.

Bolivia's reserves of natural gas are the largest in South America after Venezuela's.

Morales also said at the time that other sectors of the economy would be nationalized.

Choquehuanca said next on the government list of reforms were redistribution of land "in a equitable manner," especially large plantations with absentee owners, forestry, silver mines and timber as well as new water rights.

"The multinational companies are not about to leave Bolivia. They will continue to make a profit, and in no way are we impacting on their profit," he said.

"We are simply changing the rules of the game -- the rules of the game which up until then were to their benefit. The rules of the game which did not allow the income generated to be to the benefit of our people," Choquehuanca said.

He said Bolivia was making progress on the issue in discussions with the French, Spanish and Brazilian governments, whose nationals had interests in the country.

The minister was attending the fifth session of the UN Forum on Indigenous Issues, complete with musicians and dancers. Participants sought to work out strategies to improve the environment, development, education, health and human rights of some 370 million indigenous peoples in 70 nations.

In a video message to the forum, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, now visiting Asia, said the forum was meant to give practical effect to programs that would benefit "all indigenous peoples -- from the northern reaches of the Arctic to the pastoralist communities of Africa."

He called on all countries to translate programs "into reality on the ground" and establish a system that would ensure participation and consent of indigenous communities in projects by the World Bank and other financial institutions.

Story by Evelyn Leopold