UNASUR to probe Bolivia unrest

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:25:26 GMT The Union of South American Nations will send a commission to Bolivia to investigate the recent anti-government violence.  Meeting at the UN summit in New York, South American leaders agreed to create a special commission to investigate attempts to undermine President Evo Morales in the northern province of Pando.   Pando has been the scene of the heaviest violence in recent months, provoked by anti-Morales protesters opposed to the president's plans to redistribute land and wealth. Anti-government groups from Bolivia's resource-rich "half-moon" states have caused disruption by setting up roadblocks, attacking police, abducting federal employees, seizing airports and taking over state-run television stations and community radio stations. They have also targeted pipelines transporting natural gas to countries such as Brazil. One of Morales' key proposals is to nationalize windfall profits from Bolivia's natural gas industry. In an address to the United Nations assembly in New York on Tuesday, Morales condemned the US for failing to criticize "acts of terrorism" in his country, calling it a permanent conspiracy among the wealthy in eastern Bolivia. In response to growing unrest, Bolivia expelled the US ambassador to La Paz last month. President Morales revealed that US Ambassador Phillip Goldberg had held meetings with secessionist leaders and alleged that the US Embassy had asked Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar to act as spies. In past years, the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) organizations have supported right-wing movements in Bolivia. Morales has widespread support among Bolivians who voted overwhelmingly to back his presidency in an August 10 recall referendum. Morales won a majority of 67 percent in the vote, representing a 13% jump in his popularity since the December 2005 presidential elections. FBA/WY. Original source at PressTV