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U.S. and Bolivia on the brink of restoring diplomatic ties
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Bolivian FM David Choquehuanca (Abrebrecha.net)
Representatives from the U.S. and Bolivian governments met yesterday for the second time this year in an attempt to mend fences and possibly restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero led the U.S. delegation, which hosted Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca and his Bolivian delegation.
The meeting appeared to go well, but the representatives did not agree to redeploy ambassadors to each other’s capitals.
“We are close to reaching an agreement. We have established that we will keep working to reach a new framework agreement that will allow us to establish a constructive relationship,” Choquehuanca said. He also said he was “optimistic” about the chances of success of talks, which were to continue in the second half of November in La Paz.
Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Bolivia ended in September 2008, with the expulsions of the U.S. ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, and Bolivian ambassador in Washington, Gustavo Guzman. Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled Goldberg for allegedly supporting his opposition.
The U.S. has strongly opposed Bolivia’s legal coca market, claiming it contributes to the region’s thriving cocaine trade. Morales is a big supporter of legal coca and the cocaleros who grow it, and made the issue one of the biggest platforms of his presidential campaign. The Bolivian government also recently expelled the last remaining DEA agents in Bolivia.
Morales has been trying to expand the legal coca market in Bolivia. Only last year did he acknowledge that sizeable amounts of coca are being grown illegally, and that the cocaine trade in his country is growing.
Bolivia’s economic ties to Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba and Morales’ personal ties to Hugo Chávez and the Castro brothers have also been sticking points in diplomatic relations with the U.S.
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