Bolivia coca growers say they’ll contribute crop to help Morales’ re-election

September 14th, 2009 Morales: Bolivia open to energy sector investmentMADRID — Bolivia welcomes foreign investment in its energy and natural resource sectors but without foreign companies acting as owners, President Evo Morales said Monday. Bolivia's plans to nationalize its electricity sector and how this might affect Spanish companies in the South American country will be among the top items on Morales' agenda during his trip to Madrid, which began Sunday.

September 12th, 2009 Bolivia to buy presidential plane from RussiaLA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales says Bolivia has decided to buy a presidential plane from Russia after Moscow offered to set up an aircraft maintenance center in the South American nation. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel announced in early August that Bolivia had agreed to purchase an Antonov presidential plane with satellite phone, Internet links and a meeting room from Russia for $30 million.

September 8th, 2009 LA PAZ - Nearly 2.5 million voters have registered for the Dec 6 general elections in Bolivia, the National Election Court (CNE) said. Some 60 percent of the eligible voters in the country are expected to register for the polls till Oct 15, when the process will conclude, CNE president Antonio Costas said Tuesday.

July 29th, 2009 Iran approves $280 million loan for BoliviaLA PAZ, Bolivia — Iran's top diplomat in Bolivia says the Islamic republic has approved a $280 million low-interest loan for President Evo Morales' government to use as it sees fit. Gas and oil exploration are possibilities.

July 9th, 2009 US extradites former coup leader to BoliviaLA PAZ, Bolivia — The United States deported a key figure in Bolivia's last military dictatorship back home Thursday to serve a 30-year prison sentence for crimes including genocide and political assassinations. Luis Arce Gomez, 71, known as "the minister of cocaine," took part in the July 1980 coup led by then-Gen.

July 1st, 2009 Bolivia leader says Obama 'lied' about cooperationLA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales on Wednesday accused Barack Obama of lying by pledging to change America's historically heavy-handed relationship with Latin America and then halting $25 million in annual trade benefits for Bolivia. The U.S. on Tuesday said it is ending the import duty waivers because world's No.

July 1st, 2009 US cuts Bolivian tariff exemptions on drug effortsBOGOTA — The U.S. government says it will end valuable tariff exemptions for Bolivia because the world's No.

June 19th, 2009 Correction: Peru-BoliviaLIMA, Peru — In stories May 11 and May 12 about Peru granting asylum to two Bolivian officials, The Associated Press erroneously reported that genocide charges were not filed against former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and members of his cabinet until after Evo Morales became president in 2006. Bolivia's congress ratified charges against Sanchez de Lozada and the cabinet members in 2004, and prosecutors added five former senior military officials as defendants after Morales' inauguration.

June 19th, 2009 UN: Colombia coca crop down; Peru and Bolivia upBOGOTA — Colombia's coca crop shrank by nearly a fifth last year while cultivation of the bush that is the basis of cocaine rose for a third straight year in Peru and Bolivia, the world's two other coca-producing nations, the United Nations said Friday. The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said the 18 percent reduction in Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, from 2007 owed in part to record manual eradication — as opposed to aerial herbicide spraying — of 96,100 hectares (371 square miles) of the crop.

May 14th, 2009 Bolivia: Peru ties 'at risk' over refugee decisionLA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia's president says relations with Peru are at "high risk" after the neighboring nation gave refuge to two more former Bolivian officials accused in the 2003 army killings of dozens of protesters. Evo Morales says his government is considering its response to what he calls a "provocation and an open aggression" by his Peruvian counterpart, Alan Garcia.

May 2nd, 2009 Morales, Carter eye improved Bolivia-US tiesLA PAZ, Bolivia — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Bolivia's Evo Morales said Saturday they hope their countries are on the road to repairing badly strained relations.

April 10th, 2009 LA PAZ - Bolivia's President Evo Morales is on a hunger strike to force the National Congress to pass a law. The law would provide for new elections in December and allow Morales to bid for a second five-year term in office.

March 10th, 2009 LA PAZ - Bolivia has expelled another US diplomat accusing him of conspiring against the government of President Evo Morales. Morales said Monday that he ordered the expulsion of Francisco Martinez, second secretary at US embassy in La Paz, for having links with the country's right-wing opposition and conspiring against his government.

February 7th, 2009 EL ALTO - Bolivian President Evo Morales has enacted a new constitution that he says will 'refound' the country on the basis of unity, equality and dignity and put it on a path to national reconciliation, EFE reported Sunday. 'Mission accomplished.

January 14th, 2009 LA PAZ - Bolivia broke diplomatic ties with Israel over the 'disproportionate' attacks of the Israeli Army on the Gaza Strip, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday in La Paz. Morales made the announcement as diplomats accredited in Bolivia greeted the president in accordance with protocol, Bolivian media reported.