Manfred’s new agenda, Vote Constitutional maybe, “fraud” is the new tact

(Cochabamba & New York) Governor Manfred Reyes Villa of the department of Cochabamba may have lost more than just this election. In an interview with Karah Woodward of Digital Warrior Media & WBAI-FM of New York, Reyes Villa said he would pursue actions to discredit international observers & claim the vote of Sunday the 10th of August was terribly “fraudulent”.

While observing the election taking place in Cochabamba, Ms. Woodward sought also to find reactions away from a stronghold of Morales in La Paz, in a province headed up by such a vociferous opponent. The people spoke freely off camera, but on camera they were slightly more self-edited in their words. The talk of the town was of political feelings running high & Sunday was seemingly a day to evacuate the past months of political tensions through the simple yet basic act of voting.

Despite local press reports that Morales supporters were aiming to take over the prefecture's office last night, Cochabamba's Plaza 14 de Septiembre was peaceful.

Governor Reyes Villa left his office before mid-morning and throughout the day, groups of Cochabambinos met around the plaza in spirited debate, expressing their opinons and discussing the larger issues facing the country.

And the military police built a cordon with their shields, blocking the entrance to the prefect's building after a slight confrontation in the foyer.

The vote has exposed Manfred (as he is called in this tropical Amazonian urban enclave) more so because the other regional Governor displaced by the vote has agreed to abide by it. The results were then reinforced by those Governors reaffirmed in the vote who are opposed to the central government’s reforms & pushed for autonomy.

As solitary as the Governor of Cochabamba is politically, the media in the United States sees greater potential conflict with Reyes Villa’s resistance to the vote of the people of his province.

The reporting by the Wall Street Journal sees it as:

• “There are other potential flashpoints for conflict in the wake of the vote. The governor of Cochabamba, the scene of fierce street battles last year, was voted out of office in the referendum. Yet, he has vowed not to step down since he views the vote as unconstitutional. Observers are bracing for more clashes when the Morales government seeks to replace him.”

Simon Romero, of the New York Times writes

• “Signaling how the referendum may reignite tensions, the governor of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes, said the referendum itself was unconstitutional. “I go on being prefect of Cochabamba,” said Mr. Reyes on Sunday night.”

The Governor seemed to change that tactic as his comments were more to address the mechanics of the process more then the actual legality of it. The sourcing @ WSJ & NYT may be outdated, if not incorrect information, still most western media outlets are seemingly projecting a conflict without the full facts. His power base is shrinking by the minute, and he still has a difficult time finding successful allies left over from the infamous School of the Americas.

Manfred Reyes Villa may wish for major media to correct themselves, and likely western media may well placate him in his pursuit of maintaining a viable political life. This from a man who was a conservative three-time presidential candidate & has a political career that is at best difficult when denouncing the system that brought him to power.

Should Manfred Reyes Villa assert himself, he may very well be doing it by himself with few options and even fewer supporters willing to challenge Morales’ mandate. A better motivation could be that all sides would wish to escape further turmoil than waste Bolivia’s most valuable resource, the beautiful people of the Bolivian Diaspora.

In Cochabamba, during the election the voting was orderly, the political discussion was adept, and Bolivia again showed the world an outstanding example of democracy.

Karah Woodward From Cochabamba & La Paz Bolivia,

Troy O'Dend'Hal From New York City.

That "F#$king" Indian Won!

Evo Morales won a resounding victory in a recall vote yesterday after calling a referendum to break a political impasse and revive his campaign to advance prosperity for all Bolivianos.

Some reports have listed more then than 63 percent of voters in this divided Andean nation ratified the mandate of Mr Morales, the country's first indigenous Leader in 500 years and his vice president, the intellectual Alvaro Garcia.

Morales had proposed the referendum in an attempt to topple opposing governors who want autonomy in their resource rich provinces & have frustrated his attempts to improve the lot of the country's impoverished indigenous majority.

With the false idea that the native people are either too ignorant or not civilized enough to stand as president, the term "the only good Indian is a dead fucking Indian" was used predominately on television and in the various regional campaigns against Morales.

"What happened today is important not only for Bolivians but for all Latin Americans," Mr Morales, a former coca leaf farmer, told several thousand cheering supporters last night from the balcony of the presidential palace. "I dedicate this victory to all the revolutionaries in the world."

Karah Woodward of the Bolivia Transition Project is in La Paz and visited Cochabamba to observe the elections and report accordingly.. Troy O'Dend'Hal is in New York coordinating news information and logistical support - -

Photo via Dado Galdieri/Associated Press

Bolivia Takes Control of Hydrocarbons

The plan was delayed but the promise was held. On May 1st, a symbolic day of labor struggle and 100 days after Evo Morales became president, Bolivia gained control of its natural gas and oil resources. Multinational companies have been granted 180 days to renegotiate their contracts with the government or face expulsion.

The decree signed by President Morales at the San Alberto field in Tarija province, states that Bolivia “recovers ownership, possession and total and absolute control" of hydrocarbons.

Morales sent armed troops and “battalions of engineers” from the state owned energy company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YFPB) to the 56 oil fields and 2 refineries, ensuring no interruption of production and to deter potential saboteurs.

There are more than 20 companies with oil and gas interests in Bolivia. The major players are Brazil's Petrobras, the Spanish-Argentine company Repsol YPF, British companies British Gas and British Petroleum, France's Total, and the U.S. Exxon Mobil Corporation.

All energy sales are to be channeled through the Bolivian government, which will pay companies for their services. Previously, Bolivian law said the state no longer owned the gas once companies extracted it from under ground.

Some reports have indicated that companies could receive as much as 50% of profits from production. However during the transition period, that sum will be 18% of royalties – an amount that had previously been paid to Bolivia while multinationals kept the lion’s share of profits.

"The pillage of our natural resources by foreign companies is over," Morales declared.

Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia said the government's energy-related revenue will jump to $780 million next year, an increase of almost 600% from 2002.

Bolivia’s decree immediately drew criticism from governments around the world. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the move could have a serious impact on the Bolivian economy, affecting Bolivia's relationships with its Latin American neighbors, and its economic and trade relations with Europe.

Most heavily impacted are Spain’s Repsol and Brazil’s Petrobras. With investment over $2 billion, Petrobras is one of Bolivia’s largest foreign investors, owning 14% of the country’s gas reserves and controlling 95% of Bolivia’s refining capacity. Currently Brazil receives 50% of its natural gas from Bolivia.

The Brazilian Petrobras President Jose Sergio Gabrielli told Brazil's Globo Television Network: "There's no way that new investment in gas production with 18-percent return can be viable, these conditions make gas operations practically impossible in Bolivia."

Officially, companies are taking a “wait and see” approach, expressing a desire to work with the Bolivian government. However, some companies have inferred an intent to seek international arbitration to settle the matter.

Meanwhile Venezuela and Bolivia are forging stronger ties as President Hugo Chavez and Morales created an alliance between YPFB and Venezuela’s state owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), to develop projects that will include the industrialization of Bolivia's huge natural gas reserves.

Bolivia has the second largest reserves of natural gas in South America after Venezuela, estimated at more than 24 trillion cubic feet.