A War of Words: The Avoidable Bush/Bolivia Meltdown

Readers,

We just published a new issue of our electronic newsletter, The Democracy Center On-Line, an analysis of the needless meltdown in relations between the US and Bolivian governments. Below is the lead and here is a link to the article on a worth-visiting Web site on Latin America, Upside Down World.

Those interested in receiving the newsletter should send an email to info@democracyctr.org, with "newsletter" in the subject line.

Jim Shultz

A War of Words: The Avoidable Bush/Bolivia Meltdown

Last December, when Bolivians elected a socialist, indigenous, coca grower, Evo Morales, to be their president, it did not take a rocket scientist to predict that there might be rough waters ahead for Bolivia's relationship with the US.

A few days after Morales inauguration I was invited to give a talk on Bolivia before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. The Council titled the event, "The US's Worst Nightmare?" - a provocative and widely reported fragment of rhetoric Morales had tossed out during an election rally here in Cochabamba.

In the Beginning - A Bilateral Optimism

Beneath the surface, however, there was a good deal of optimism and commitment on both sides about making the new US/Bolivia relationship work. I heard that optimism directly from both governments.

Read the full article here.