Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

The inauguration as president of Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian and former head of the Bolivian coca growers union, on Sunday may prove the hardest turn yet in a persistent South American left-leaning government tilt.

While vague on details, and moderating his tone, Morales has promised to transform Bolivia, and to "end the colonial and neo-liberal model," as he stated this past Saturday in a ceremony at sacred ruins of pre-Incan civilization.

He has said he would "de-penalize" the cultivation of coca, the prime ingredient for cocaine, which Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and more than two decades trying to eradicate.

He pledges to inject the state into the Bolivian oil and natural gas industry, troubling the multinational energy companies that first flocked here in the late 1990s, even though Morales recently said he would not expropriate foreign holdings. The jury is still out on that.

He has disparaged U.S.-backed free-trade policies, and seems certain to stand as the southernmost outpost of a new anti-U.S. nexus with Cuba and Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chávez, has become among the most ardent critics of the Bush administration. The strategic importance of Bolivia's abundant coca fields and rich energy holdings could unsettle Washington, along with the region.

Bolivian reserves of natural gas, second largest on the continent, help power the largest South American economies.

With the exception of Chávez, who is bank rolled by Venezuelan oil wealth, most of the other left-leaning South American leaders, like President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, have pursued pragmatic policies once faced with the task of governing. Brazil has invested approximately $1.5 billion into energy investments in Bolivia, and has good reason to worry that the drug and crime problems in the urban slums of Bolivia could rise if coca crops are not controlled.

U.S. political analysts say it is far harder to know exactly how Morales might govern, but I think it's clear where he stands.

Speaking of Morales friend, Hugo Chavez . . . 

Senator John McCain made a statement on last Sunday that America must explore alternative energy sources to avoid depending on Iran or "wackos" in Venezuela, which was obviously a reference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In response, Venezuela's vice president, Jose Vicente Rangel said that the United States should focus on its own problems. "It looks like they have nothing else to do in the U.S., "he said, adding that the Americans have "so many problems, 40 million poor people, 30 million drug users, and an American senator is paying attention to us. He can go to hell." 

Well, you can't get any clearer that that!

In the final analysis more Latin American leaders, who think the same as Morales and Chavez, will be elected by the poor who are frustrated with American policies.

McCain is right about exploring alternative energy sources, but I ask once again when will we stop talking about our dependency problem and start actually doing something about it?