The U.S. and Bolivia: Happy Together Again

This is a brief update for those of you who lost sleep this past week over the escalating war of rhetoric between the U.S. Embassy here and the Bolivian government.

As we reported earlier, Ambassador Phillip Goldberg got into a public tiff with the Morales Administration for an off-the-cuff comment that Evo might soon suggest moving Disneyland from the U.S. (after he made a similar suggestion about the U.N.). Morales and his Foreign Minister upped the ante by demanding an apology and threatening to forbid Goldberg from any more of those precious pre-dawn visits to the Presidential Palace (Morales' favored meeting time).

Well, we can all breath easier today. On Monday in La Paz, Mr. Goldberg and Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca made peace in private and then appeared in public to announce their renewed good feelings for one another. "I want to announce that the government of Bolivia accepts the explications and apologies of the U.S. Ambassador and we want to leave as closed the impasse," said Choquehuanca. "I'd like to ratify exactly what the Foreign Minister said," Mr. Goldberg chimed back.

La Paz is once again, "the happiest place on Earth."

There are, however, a few things that remain unclear about how this crisis was settled.

** Did Ambassador Goldberg eat his crow picante or as silpancho?

** Did Choquehuanca receive, as part of the deal, Mickey Mouse ears with his name embroidered on them? Attention to U.S. Embassy readers: This would have been a nice touch.

** Did the U.S. government make any formal overtures to move Disneyland to Sucre? I think this would actually be a better deal for them than moving the Bolivian capital. Trust me, Space Mountain would draw in way more visitors than the Congress. They could also have a special attraction, "Mr. Evo's Wild Ride", based on an armed raid of the Viru Viru airport. But, Santa Cruz-style, you'd have to pay admission to the ride separately, in cash, and on the sly.

I don't know what sort of refreshments were served that helped the two governments start acting like adults again, but if someone knows the recipe, I think there would be some real demand for it.

By the way, if they do move Disneyland to Sucre, in the name of decentralization, could Cochabamba have "It's a Small World?" My 5-year-old would like that.