Plunderers Will Have to Pay Full Market Rates
Bolivia Claims Bolivian Natural Resources
| Here are some excerpts from reports carried by the New York Times (U.S.) and Washington Post (U.S.). |
President Evo Morales of Bolivia ordered the military to occupy energy fields around the country on Monday as he placed Bolivia's oil and gas reserves under public control.
At an oil field operated by the Brazilian energy giant Petróleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, Morales ordered foreign producers to relinquish control of all fields and channel future sales of hydrocarbons through the state-owned energy company.
He gave foreign companies 180 days to renegotiate existing contracts with the government, or leave the country.
"The time has come, the awaited day, a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources," Morales declared, according to The Associated Press. "The looting by the foreign companies has ended."
The decree is the latest step by Latin America governments from Venezuela to Ecuador to assert greater control over the energy sector, moves that have sent shivers through foreign corporations.
Motivated by nationalist politics and soaring oil and gas prices, governments have seized an opportunity to gain higher revenues while parlaying their control over future energy supplies into greater political leverage, both at home and abroad.
"Governments in the region see energy as a commodity they can use to push populist agendas," said Adriano Pires, director of the Brazilian Center for Infrastructure Studies, an energy consultancy in Rio de Janeiro.
The Bolivian announcement fulfilled a campaign pledge that helped Morales rise to power last December. It was foreshadowed last year when Bolivia approved a major increase in the royalties paid by foreign producers for the right to operate in the country.
Morales has said he plans to use increased state revenue from the takeover to fund social programs in South America's poorest country.
"I think it was a symbolic move to send the military to the oil fields to show that Bolivians are now in charge of taking care of their own property," said Gonzalo Chavez, a political analyst with the Catholic University in La Paz, the Bolivian capital. "It's an extremely popular move. There's a lot of nationalism in the country right now, and this is something that a lot of people are going to like."
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Also see: Bolivia's Indian Chief
Bolivia's Remarkable Vote, Not Covered by Mainstream Media
More About Morales |
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