Posted on 12/28/2005 11:29:02 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
LA PAZ, Bolivia - Bolivia's president-elect said he will meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro during his first trip abroad since winning the Bolivian presidential elections this month.
President-elect Evo Morales announced that he will travel Friday to Cuba as the first stop in a world tour that includes visits to Europe, China, South Africa and Brazil before he assumes office Jan. 22.
''We have a lot of invitations from governments, from presidents,'' Morales said Tuesday, adding that he was ''very impressed, very happy'' with the calls he received from leaders of governments and international organizations, including the United Nations.
Morales said he will meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro on his first trip abroad since winning the Bolivian presidential elections this month. He didn't say how long he would remain in Cuba, which marks the 47th anniversary of its revolution on Jan. 1.
Morales earlier said he would attend a celebration in his hometown of Orinoca, Bolivia, on New Year's Day. The president-elect also will travel to Europe on Jan. 3, visiting France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands before continuing on to China and South Africa, where he is to meet with former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela. And on Jan. 13, he plans to be in Brazil.
Morales has repeatedly declared himself an admirer of Cuba's Castro, and has referred to himself as the ''younger brother'' of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Morales, an Indian coca farmer and former protest leader, won Bolivia's Dec. 18 presidential contest with nearly 54 percent of the vote -- the most popular support of any president since democracy was restored to Bolivia two decades ago.
A close aide to Morales said Tuesday that Morales will reject U.S. economic and military aid if the United States requires continued coca eradication efforts to get the money.
Morales also plans to withdraw Bolivia's military from anti-drug efforts and leave the job to police, said Juan Ramón Quintana, a member of the Morales' transition team.
Morales campaigned on promises to end the eradication of coca plantations. Coca eradication is a condition for aid from the United States, which gave Bolivia $91 million in 2005. The decision was made ''mainly for reasons of sovereignty,'' said Quintana, who described Bolivia's Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking as ''an appendix'' of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
''This poses a huge risk for the security of the state,'' he said. ``All the national agencies and capabilities must be put back under the government control.''
Morales also said that on Jan. 21, the eve of his inauguration, he will receive the blessing of local Indian leaders in a ceremony at the ruins of an ancient civilization south of La Paz.
The United States also has congratulated Morales on his victory and said that relations between their countries will depend in large part on whether the president-elect respects democratic norms. A U.S. embassy spokesman said Tuesday that there would be no official comment on the announcement that Bolivia will forego financial aid that comes with anti-drug strings attached.
Bolivia's national police commander, Gen. David Aramayo, acknowledged that the United States offers ''important support'' in the coca-eradication campaign, but insisted that his force has been ultimately responsible for the drug unit.
Bolivia's armed forces have played a key role in the eradication of coca leaf, especially in the Chapare region where Morales came to national political prominence as a leader of the coca growers. Clashes between the military and growers have killed dozens of farmers since 1997.
Coca is used to make cocaine, but it also has legal religious and medical uses. Indians also chew it to fight fatigue.
Morales once wrote on his website, ''Thanks to coca, we've made it through the endless suffering caused by the white man's infamous war on drugs.'' But he's also made a point of saying he'll crack down on cocaine trafficking while protecting the plant's traditional uses.
Evil Evo flying off to meet with the Oracle of Havana!
"President-elect Evo Morales announced that he will travel Friday to Cuba as the first stop in a world tour that includes visits to Europe, China, South Africa and Brazil before he assumes office Jan. 22."
No Venezuela? Morales going to Papa Fidel to complain Brother Hugo hasn't delivered the promised petro-dollars?
Morales soon to learn what little solidarity means.
"President-elect Evo Morales announced that he will travel Friday to Cuba as the first stop in a world tour that includes visits to Europe, China, South Africa and Brazil before he assumes office Jan. 22."
No Venezuela? Morales going to Papa Fidel to complain Brother Hugo hasn't delivered the promised petro-dollars?
Morales soon to learn what little solidarity means.
Yet another "Mini-me"
We get these commie bastards out only to have another come back in power.
We no longer have The Soviet Union to worry about bringing troops up the Southern Border.
The new strategy is to let Socialists governments cripple their own economies.
"Morales will reject U.S. economic and military aid if the United States requires continued coca eradication efforts to get the money."
Please! I hope all countries reject US economic aid!
Then we can spend it here at home on Katrina (or just let the taxpayers keep it; it sure hasn't accomplished anything overseas).
Commies make me sick.
This clown's whole economy is U.S. aid. Now he wants to thank Europe. Hope the little tramp is lining up other aid donors, they are all going to have to carry Morales. I'd like to see Europe saddled with his aid bills.
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