Bolivian president Evo Morales wrapped up his two-day Washington visit, the first of his presidency, with a speaking engagement at the OAS on Wednesday, where he sought international support for Bolivia's soon-to-be new constitution. Speaking in the Hall of the Americas while a crowd of protesters jeered outside -- mostly Bolivian immigrants -- Morales told diplomats: "our intention is to refound the nation with a Constitution that benefits all, to be approved by the people on January 24."Morales has also stated that his visit is meant to indicate an interest in a "fresh start" with President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration, though he did not have any meetings with the President-elect or any members of the transition team.
In the past few months, tensions have run high between the US and Bolivia, which within the last several months has expelled the US ambassador, USAID teams, the Peace Corps, and most recently the DEA.
Other stops on Morales' DC visit included a sold-out Tuesday night speech at American University and a stop on Capitol Hill, where he met privately with Senator Richard Lugar.
Will relations get better with Bolivia after January? It seems like the ball may be Obama's court, to some extent. Depending on who Obama appoints to the key positions in his cabinet and as diplomatic envoys, Morales may be willing to start by, say, letting a (diplomatic) ambassador, USAID and the Peace Corps back into Bolivia. It will be up to Obama to convince Morales that the DEA is no longer (or never was) tapping his personal phone before we can talk seriously about joint drug enforcement programs or other serious matters of common interest.
Sources: Washington Post, National Geographic Blogs, Media Newswire, OAS, Plenglish
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