http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4581364.stm
Morales takes to the world stage
By James Painter
BBC Latin America analyst
The new left-wing President-elect of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has chosen to
spend his time before his inauguration on 22 January on a whistle-stop tour of
eight countries in four continents.
Will Evo Morales follow Hugo Chavez's model?
His choice of countries is hugely significant. He has already been to
Cuba and Venezuela. Now he is travelling to Spain, France, Belgium, South
Africa, China and finally Brazil - but not the United States.
Like his ideological soul mate and friend, President Hugo Chavez of
Venezuela, Mr Morales is keen to diversify Bolivia's relations away from a
dependence on the US.
Historically, Bolivia's weak economy - the poorest in South America - has
made it very vulnerable to US influence.
Mr Morales clearly wants to take advantage of a more multi-polar world to
seek aid and investment from other sources than Washington, which has
traditionally provided the lion's share of foreign aid.
Venezuelan model
Mr Morales is hoping for a major increase in aid from Spain. But more
importantly, Spain is the third largest investor in Bolivia after Brazil and
the US.
The major European companies investing in Bolivia's huge gas and oil
sector include the Spanish-Argentine company Repsol.
Mr Morales will want to reassure the Spanish government and investors
that he does not want to kick out or expropriate the companies. Rather, he
wants to change the terms of trade with them so the Bolivian state gets a
bigger share of the revenue.
His model may well be what Mr Chavez is doing in Venezuela.
This week, the Chavez government took control of more than 30 oilfields
previously operated by private companies prior to their being replaced by joint
ventures dominated by Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.
Coca controversy
Bolivia has the second largest gas reserves in South America after
Venezuela.
The visit to South Africa is more about sentiment than business
opportunities or aid - Mr Morales has long been an admirer of Nelson Mandela
The French company Total is another major investor in Bolivian gas, and
no doubt the company will feature in discussions with French President Jacques
Chirac.
What Mr Morales plans to do with Bolivia's excess coca production is
bound to form part of the discussions with officials from the European Union in
Brussels.
He has said he wants to legalise all Bolivia's coca growing, which is the
third largest in the world, but clamp down on cocaine trafficking.
Historically, the EU has put more emphasis than Washington on finding
alternatives to coca, rather than putting pressure on Bolivian governments to
eradicate it by force.
There are reports that the EU is willing to fund studies to examine what
uses Bolivia's coca could be used for other than being turned into cocaine.
Brazilian interests
The visit to South Africa is more about sentiment than business
opportunities or aid. Mr Morales has long been an admirer of Nelson Mandela.
Bolivia has the second largest gas reserves in South America
There are obvious parallels between the two countries. Mr Morales is
Bolivia's first indigenous president in a country with the largest number of
people who define themselves as Indians in South America.
China is already having a major impact on Latin America's economies, as
its rapid economic growth sucks in large amounts of commodities.
But Bolivia has not been able to benefit as much as some of its
neighbours like Chile, Brazil and Peru.
So it will be looking to sell more precious metals and soya. China might
be able to play a role in developing Bolivia's oil and gas sector, as it is
already doing in Venezuela.
Mr Morales wraps his tour up in Brazil - perhaps the most important stage
of his tour.
Brazil's state company Petrobras is the largest foreign investor in
Bolivia, and Brazil absorbs an estimated two-thirds of Bolivia's gas exports.
Bolivia's richer eastern departments are very linked into the Brazilian
economy. President Lula will not want to see any radical measures affecting
Brazilian interests, but at the same time he will be keen to have close
relations with another left-wing president in the region.
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