The Bolivian President confirms that he will nationalize
the petrol and the gas industries
The president-elect of Bolivia, Evo Morales, confirmed yesterday that he will continue with his plans
to nationalize the country’s petrol and gas resources, although he explained that this would not
involve an expropriation of the companies which operate in the sector.
Javier L. Noriega, Madrid
After meeting with the president of the government, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in La Moncloa, Morales firmly
declared that the nation of Bolivia would exercise its property rights on its natural resources. “We will nationalize,
and that does not mean confiscating or expropriating or expelling the companies”, he specified, after insisting
that Bolivia “needs partners and private foreign businesses, but not owners of its natural resources”.
Morales warned that his government will be “radical” with the petrol companies which do not comply with Bolivian
laws. However he expressed his respect for the companies which do comply with national laws and defended their
right to recoup the investments made and to make a profit.
The electoral program with which Morales won the election defends “effective nationalization” of hydrocarbons
and foresees a greater prominence of the state petrol company YPFB, which would take over the whole country’s
production, compensating the foreign firms “in cash or in kind”, through a new regime of service provision. The
Spanish secretary of state for communication , Fernando Moraleda, expressed his certainty that the projects of
the new Bolivian executive will be “compatible” with the interests of the Spanish companies and guarantees of
stability and justice which their investments require.
Economic and commercial issues were the principle axis of the busy agenda which Morales completed yesterday
in Spain and which ended with a meeting with the king. Amongst the solid promises obtained from Zapatero was
that Spain will cancel a “substantial” part of the Bolivian debt (120 million) in exchange for education programs.
Despite this he still had to listen to the ministers of external affairs and industry asking for “stability and security”
in order to increase the commercial interests and investments in Bolivia. This message was repeated by around
thirty business men in a lunch organized by the Spanish Federation of Business Organizations (CEOE its Spanish
acronym) in which he shared a table with Antonio Brufau, the president of Repsol YPF, the biggest Spanish
investor in the country. Sources from the meeting indicated that both were very receptive in their exchange of
opinions on the industry.
Roger Even Bove, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics
Dept. of Economics & Finance
West Chester University
West Chester PA 19383-2220
Phone: 610-436-2134 email: rbove@wcupa.edu or rebove@post.harvard.edu
Fax: 425-645-4198 or 610-436-2592
Website: http://courses.wcupa.edu/rbove/Genkey.htm