Bolivia’s naive foreign policy

Humberto Vacaflor writes in El Deber:

Naive foreign policy

Bolivia now has deteriorated relations with USA, Brazil, Argentina and, one might say, also Peru, for the suspension of the presidential meeting that was to take place last week. The U.S. Charge d’affaires [DCM], Harry Mammott, just left for his country “for personal reasons”, which means that the ties his country has with Bolivia have weakened further. A report on corruption in Bolivia warned about this new twist in the deterioration of the relationships.

Brazil has recalled its ambassador and four of its top diplomats, revealing a delicate state of relations that is not masked by the inexplicable stay in Brasilia of Ambassador Jerjes Justiniano. This crisis is not mitigated by the Bolivian silent disaster causing Brazilian dams on the Madeira River. The voices of alarm at these works were heard for two decades, but for some reason Bolivian governments, and especially today’s, have decided to treat the Amazon region with unexplained disdain. An invoice from the oil company Pan American Energy came to spoil the relations with Argentina. The bill is for $1,496 million dollars, which the company exhibited with the Government of Mrs. Fernández as a trophy that intends to invest in oil exploration in Neuquén. The agreement between Repsol YPF opens the possibility that the Spanish oil company chooses to seek gas in Argentina to sell it to the Argentines, instead of looking in Bolivia.

The little expertise of the Bolivian foreign policy was starkly in the Peruvian case. The meeting of the presidents was a possibility, but had not mentioned a date, except in the Bolivian government, who spoke on February 27. Peru’s Foreign Ministry was not aware of that wishful intention of the Bolivian government. For all purposes, the announcement that Peruvian President Humala could not come on February 27 was recorded as a rebuff, especially when Communications Minister spoke of a postponement undated “for festive reasons”.

http://www.eldeber.com.bo/vernotacolumnistas.php?id=140305223719

And so we on around the world showing Bolivian government incompetence, we show ridicule gestures like the intention of current coca-grower president to go to Chile’s inauguration next week… and will speak about support to Venezuela’s ruling ochlocracy!