Monday, March 9, 2009

Bolivia ejects U.S. diplomat

Earlier this month, the Bolivian government proposed improving fragile political relations with the U.S. That diplomatic gesture may be overshadowed by events today, however:
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday ordered the expulsion of a senior U.S. diplomat in the country, accusing him of participating in a "conspiracy" against Bolivia's far-left government.

Francisco Martinez, the second secretary of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, was "persona non grata," Morales said in a public address at his official palace.

Martinez, he said, "was in permanent contact with opposition groups during the entire period of the conspiracy," which he said caused anti-government unrest that rocked much of the country in September 2008.
A spokesman at the embassy at La Paz didn’t comment on the specifics of Martinez’ expulsion though he did say that Martinez was a secondary-level career diplomat.

Morales’ today is one of several expulsions over the past year; Morales had previously ordered out counternarcotics DEA agents while U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg was booted out in September.

Image- PRESS TV
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Ottawa Citizen, chron.com, Reuters

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I hope things clear up under the Obama administration, the Bolivian Ambassador to the UN was so correct when he stated the the US War-On-Drugs is a war of economic. I was speaking at that same forum; mine being the economic strangle hold of the potential HEMP industries & the legal US prison industries using Rockefeller Drug Laws induced slavery inside the private & governametal manufacturing system of non-rehabilitation!

Philip Gurrieri