Bolivia’s Morales decides to go ahead with purchase of presidential plane from Russia

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.

August 5th, 2009 Chavez: Venezuela to buy more tanksCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says his government plans to buy dozens of tanks because Venezuela feels threatened by pending deal to increase the U.S. military presence in Colombia.

July 19th, 2009 Bolivia coca growers back Morales re-electionLA PAZ, Bolivia — A leader of coca growers in Central Bolivia says the farmers are putting their controversial crop behind President Evo Morales' campaign for re-election. Asterio Romero tells the government's Patria Nueva radio station that each of his union's 45,000 members will donate a pound of coca to help Morales in the December election.

June 16th, 2009 Russia may put some reserves in BRIC bondsYEKATERINBURG, Russia — The Kremlin's top economic adviser says Russia may put part of its currency reserves in bonds issued by Brazil, China and India. Arkady Dvorkovich says Russia could make the move if the other three nations reciprocate.

June 13th, 2009 Ex-inmate sues, says was chained to bed in laborCHICAGO — A former Illinois jail inmate who says she was handcuffed to a hospital bed while in labor has sued the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Marilu Morales was eight months pregnant in April 2008 when she was jailed for possession of controlled substances.

June 5th, 2009 NY parking tickets pile up on van with dead driverNEW YORK — A man's decomposing body inside a minivan covered in parking tickets went undiscovered for weeks because the vehicle's windows were apparently tinted and ticketing officers don't normally search cars, police said Friday. George Morales, 59, died naturally from heart disease, the medical examiner's office said Friday.

June 2nd, 2009 Chile police find suitcases made of cocaineSANTIAGO, Chile — Police say two suitcases carried by a woman who was about to fly from Chile to Spain were made of cocaine. Detective Leandro Morales at the Santiago airport says the drug "was not hidden in the luggage.

May 12th, 2009 Asylum fight heating up Bolivia-Peru tensionsLA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia demanded Monday that Peru hand over three former government ministers charged with genocide in the 2003 killing of dozens of protesters, and President Evo Morales called asylum an "open provocation of the Bolivian people." Peruvian President Alan Garcia granted asylum to one of the former officials — Jorge Torres — in April and is reviewing requests from the other two. The fight is worsening already poor relations between the neighboring South American nations, which have been at odds since Garcia, an economic liberal, and Morales, a leftist, took office in 2006.

May 9th, 2009 White House to release review of low-flying planeWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Air Force flyover that sparked panic in New York City was not adequately reviewed and approved by senior service and department officials. In a letter this week to Sen.

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 13th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia concluded its first weapons deal with Israel, purchasing unmanned spy planes valued at around $49 million, a spokesman for the Russia Defence Ministry in Moscow told daily Izvestiya Monday. According to a military export cited by the paper, the purchase was in reaction to the August 2008 war in the south Caucasus - where Georgia successfully employed such drones against Russia.

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 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia and Bolivia have pledged to strengthen their ties with a focus on cooperation in natural gas production and transportation. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who held discussion with his visiting Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales in the Kremlin Monday, announced that Russia wants a 'strategic' energy project with Bolivia, which holds Latin America's second largest gas reserves, until 2030.

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.