SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales yesterday urged Latin America to reject US anti-drug, anti-communist and anti-terror policies, calling them “pretexts for interventionism.”
Morales, one of Latin America’s most strident critics of Washington, told a defense conference attended by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Washington remained a threat to regional peace and stability.
“Democracy, peace and security can only be guaranteed without interventionism, without hegemony,” Morales said, listing a series of charges against Washington ranging from coup-plotting to interference in the country’s traditional coca leaf farming. Coca is the plant used to make cocaine.
Gates listened to Morales’ comments but did not appear to react to the broadside, which underscored the Obama administration’s uphill battle to put relationships with many of its southern neighbours on a better footing.
The US defense secretary, speaking to the conference later in the day, supported efforts to improve disaster relief coordination to help respond to regional events like the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile this year.
“This initiative will go far to help mitigate the human suffering that results from these tragedies,” Gates said.
He also backed a proposal to promote transparency in regional defence spending, saying openness about military intentions and capabilities would help promote mutual trust in a region where many are still wary of US influence.
Gates said his staff was working with the US State Department to re-evaluate the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisition with a view to submitting it to the US Senate for ratification.
The Obama administration has worked to improve links with Latin America, hoping both to smooth working relationships with emerging powers such as Brazil as well as to counter new players in the region such as China and Iran.
But the way has not always been easy. Relations between Bolivia and the United States have been strained since Morales, a leader of the coca farmers union, was elected in 2005, the country’s first indigenous leader.
