Three stories from just one day's Bolivian papers illustrate how much Bolivia's politics is driven by outside forces:
The first is a story that MAS, the opposition party have announced a legal process against Charco, a subsidiary of British Petroleum, after the government revealed that the company had evaded taxes and sold contraband petroleum to Chile
The second is an announcement by President Mesa that grants to Cochabamba and several districts will be cut because of IMF pressure on budgets. Some delegates are talking about a hunger strike in response.
The third is a report by the Bolivian Jubilee Foundation which says that Bolivia's debts are unsustainable as it will continue to pay up to a third of its income on paying debts for at least the next 12 years.
Unfortunately, interventionism is very much part of Bolivia's history.
That is one reason why political parties like MAS have gained support. That, and misinformation.
Posted by: Miguel (MABB) | April 05, 2005 at 05:51 AM