Bolivian President Evo Morales followed the example of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, expelling Wednesday the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from the country.
Morales accused USAID of “manipulating” local public groups in order to destabilize Bolivia, the country’s news agency ABI said.
The expulsion was also a reaction to US Secretary of State John Kerry calling Latin America “the backyard” of the United States, Morales said in a May Day speech.
Kerry made his remark last month at a meeting with US Congressmen, where he argued against cuts to US financial aid to the region.
USAID and the US State Department both expressed regret over Morales’ decision.
Since 1964, USAID has invested more than $2 billion in various projects in Bolivia, according to the agency’s own figures. Morales said the Bolivian government will foot the bill for all projects deprived of funding due to his decision.
USAID lists health and environmental projects among its main activities in the Latin American country, but it has also campaigned against the cultivation of coca, a practice strongly endorsed by Morales.
The Bolivian setback for USAID comes just months after the agency was expelled from Russia by the Kremlin, which accused it of meddling in the country’s politics. The agency, which spent about $2.7 billion in Russia since 1992, has supported, among other things, various NGOs that criticized the Kremlin for alleged rigging of the recent presidential and parliamentary elections.
The original source of this article is RIA Novosti
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]
www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the
copyright owner.
