2008.09.12: September 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Diplomacy: Safety: Telegraph: US Ambassador Philip Goldberg met last week with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession
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2008.09.11: September 11, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Diplomacy: Safety: Wall Street Journal: Bolivia Expels American Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg :
2008.09.12: September 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Diplomacy: Safety: Telegraph: US Ambassador Philip Goldberg met last week with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg met last week with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession
Bolivia has expelled the US ambassador, accusing him of fomenting the civil unrest that threatens not only the country's first indigenous Indian president, Evo Morales, but the unity of the nation itself. The announcement came after protests against Mr Morales escalated and turned violent. Mr Goldberg last week infuriated President Morales when he met with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, that of Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession. Santa Cruz is predominantly white, whilst the capital La Paz, set in the highlands, is more indigenous. Earlier in the week opposition protesters burnt and pillaged government offices in city of Santa Cruz, which was followed by an attack on a gas pipeline that feeds the neighbouring giant of Brazil. Gas is the lifeblood of the Bolivian economy and the source of much of government revenue. Washington replied, through a State Department spokesman, that the accusations against Ambassador Philip Goldberg were "baseless"
PCOL Comment: This is not the first controversy surrounding Philip S. Goldberg's tenure as US Ambassador to Bolivia.
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg met last week with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession
Bolivia expels US ambassador Philip Goldberg
Bolivia has expelled the US ambassador, accusing him of fomenting the civil unrest that threatens not only the country's first indigenous Indian president, Evo Morales, but the unity of the nation itself.
By Jeremy McDermott, Latin America Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:30AM BST 12 Sep 2008
Caption: The US Embassy in Bolivia
Bolivia has expelled the US ambassador Philip Goldberg
"Without fear of the empire, I declare Mr Goldberg, the US ambassador, 'persona non grata,"' said Mr Morales, echoing the anti-US rhetoric of his friend and close ally, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
"He is conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia."
The announcement came after protests against Mr Morales escalated and turned violent. Earlier in the week opposition protesters burnt and pillaged government offices in city of Santa Cruz, which was followed by an attack on a gas pipeline that feeds the neighbouring giant of Brazil. Gas is the lifeblood of the Bolivian economy and the source of much of government revenue.
Washington replied, through a State Department spokesman, that the accusations against Ambassador Philip Goldberg were "baseless"
Mr Goldberg last week infuriated President Morales when he met with Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia's richest province, that of Santa Cruz, which wants autonomy and has threatened secession. Santa Cruz is predominantly white, whilst the capital La Paz, set in the highlands, is more indigenous.
The province is one of five that voted for more autonomy in a series of referendums, which the president has refused to recognise.
Bolivia is important to the US in the war against drugs as it grows coca, the extracts of which are used to produce cocaine.
Mr Morales, a former coca farmer, has legalised to a limited extent the production of coca, which is chewed by the majority indigenous population to fight altitude sickness in the mountain nation and to boost energy.
While he has declared himself "pro-coca" President Morales is "anti-cocaine" and has declared war on the producers of cocaine and the drugs traffickers that ship it.
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Story Source: Telegraph
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bolivia; Diplomacy; Safety
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