Bolivia’s President Morales expels USAID, accused it of working against him

washingtonpost.com

LA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales acted on a longtime threat Wednesday and expelled the U.S. Agency for International Development for allegedly seeking to undermine Bolivia’s leftist government, and he harangued Washington’s top diplomat for calling the Western Hemisphere his country’s “backyard.”

Bolivia’s ABI state news agency said USAID was “accused of alleged political interference in peasant unions and other social organizations.”

In the past, Morales has accused the agency of funding groups that opposed his policies, including a lowlands indigenous federation that organized protests against a Morales-backed highway through the TIPNIS rainforest preserve.

In 2008, Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador and agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for allegedly inciting the opposition. On Wednesday, he said Washington “still has a mentality of domination and submission” in the region.

While Morales did not provide evidence of USAID meddling, funds channeled through it have been used in Bolivia and its leftist ally Venezuela to support organizations deemed a threat by those governments.

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One Response to Bolivia’s President Morales expels USAID, accused it of working against him

  1. Diane Denizen May 3, 2013 at 8:44 am

    Morales needs to watch his back now, this has put a real dent in the hegemonic plans of the US regime.