Bolivian President Evo Morales said he will extend his nationalization of private property to include agricultural estates and ruled out any compensation for oil companies' whose assets the government took over May 1. Morales today also renewed accusations foreign companies, including Brazil's state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, acted illegally by avoiding taxes and smuggling oil. He said the government doesn't owe anything to Petrobras or Madrid-based Repsol YPF SA, the biggest investors in Bolivia's oil industry. ``If they have recovered their investment and have also booked some earnings, there's no need to indemnify them whatsoever,'' Morales told reporters at a news conference in Vienna before a meeting of European Union and Latin American leaders. ``What we are looking for are partners not bosses that exploit our oil resources.''
Bolivia's army took control May 1 of the country's oil and gas fields and gave foreign energy companies operating in the country 180 days to agree to new contracts with the government. The property seizures will extend beyond oil assets, Morales said today. ``Nationalization will not stop to oil resources, we'll extend it to land,'' he said.
| "Cuz it's worked so well in Zim-Bob-Way" |
``The rule of law and trust are key issues not just for the Bolivian people but also for investors,'' Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, told reporters today in Vienna. ``It is up to the Bolivian government and president to explain'' the nationalization decisions.
Morales praised Cuban President Fidel Castro and said his country needed time to overcome the ``black history'' of 500 years of exploitation.
| "So I'll have to stay in office till it's fixed" |