At OAS, Evo Morales Calls for an End to US Policies of 'Imposition'

By Matthew Schewel
Published in the Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor, November 21, 2008

Originally published in the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor

WASHINGTON—In his first ever trip to Washington, Bolivian President Evo Morales thanked the Organization of American States for help that he said prevented civil war in his nation earlier this year. Morales also proved to be a polarizing figure, even on US soil, as a small group of Bolivians assembled outside the OAS protested what they claimed was political repression in the Andean nation.

In a speech at the OAS on Wednesday, Morales expressed his gratitude for the OAS' help in resolving Bolivia’s political deadlock. "Thanks to the participation of the international community … I feel that we've avoided civil war in Bolivia," Morales said. "For the first time I felt that what dominated, what drove the dialogue, were arguments, and not impositions or whims." Morales argued that international organizations like the OAS should also take the lead in coordinating anti-drug efforts in the hemisphere, to replace the process of unilateral "certification" by the United States.

In September, the US added Bolivia to its list of countries that "failed demonstrably" to live up to their obligations under anti-narcotics international agreements. Diplomatic relations between the two countries worsened in October when Morales expelled the US ambassador for allegedly conspiring with opposition governors.

During his trip to Washington, Morales met with US Congressional leaders to discuss how to improve bilateral relations. "I felt that they understood that these policies of imposition—of recipes sent to Latin America—have to be changed," he said. Morales said he hoped relations between the US and Bolivia would improve because of the "commonalities" between himself and President-elect Obama, since both men come from traditionally marginalized sectors. "This obliges us to work together, to complement each other, to better serve the peoples of America and the world."

Outside the OAS, a few dozen Bolivians shouted anti-Morales slogans, which included charges of "dictator" and "murderer." Elmer Herrera, who helped organize the demonstration, shrugged off Morales' statements about improving relations with the US. "Evo Morales has a double discourse," he said. "In Bolivia, he says Bolivia will be free of Yankee imperialism, and while he's the president there won't be DEA or CIA. How with those conditions can there be a rapprochement with the United States?" Herrera said he and the other protesters were concerned about what they described as political violence, repression and the lack of a free press in Bolivia.

Morales denied he was an authoritarian, saying that if that were the case he never would have put himself up for a recall referendum in August, in which two-thirds of Bolivians voted in his favor. He concluded his speech to the OAS expressing his optimism for the future. "I feel that something is happening in the world. I feel like the world is changing," he said.

But Herrera expressed doubt that Morales' words at the OAS could change anything in Bolivia. "The people know that nothing that goes on inside the UN and the OAS has direct repercussions for the barrios, for the communities in our country," he said. "For us, for the people, there is nothing."