Morales nationalizes Bolivia’s gas and oil

At a May Day speech at the San Alberto gas field in southern Bolivia, President Evo Morales announced the nationalization of Bolivia’s oil and natural gas industry. “The time has come, the awaited day, a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources,” he stated. (Business Week)

After he spoke, a soldier unfurled a Bolivian flag atop the facility, which is operated by Repsol YPF, a Spanish-Argentine company in association with Petrobras of Brazil. The main oil companies operating in Bolivia today are British Petroleum, British Gas, Total of France, Repsol YPF and Petrobras.

Morales ordered all foreign energy companies to turn their production over to the state-run oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscale Bolivainos. The companies will have to apply for new contracts within 180 days. At the end of this period, those who do not sign new contracts will be unable to operate in Bolivia. Morales said the YPFB will be responsible for all oil production and sales, as well as prices.

Bolivian troops immediately took control of oil fields. According to an army statement, the deployment of troops “seeks to ensure the functioning of oil facilities to guarantee the normal supply of energy in accordance with international agreements as well as to fulfill domestic needs.”

The nationalization falls short of calling for the expropriation of foreign companies, that is, of taking control of the oil fields without compensation to those that have exploited the country for decades.

But this action by Morales, coming on the heels of Bolivia joining Cuba and Venezuela in the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), sends a clear message to the world that Morales is serious about shifting the wealth of Bolivia from the rich to the poor and breaking the chokehold of imperialism on his country.

ALBA, as it is known by its Spanish acronym, is an initiative of Presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. It answers the U.S. attempt at the so-called Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), successfully killed at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina in 2005. Since then, the U.S. has been trying to coerce countries into signing individual trade agreements that have unfair trading conditions.

The agreements between the three ALBA countries were signed in Cuba on April 28. To date all the details have not been released, but the Cuban media reported the agreements are similar to those signed last year between Cuba and Venezuela.

In those accords, Cuba and Venezuela agreed to mutually beneficial plans of development. For example, Venezuela now sells 90,000 barrels of crude oil to Cuba at international market prices in exchange for Cuban services and agricultural products instead of cash. (AP)

Cuba has provided doctors, teachers, videos and its literacy program to Venezuela, which has now joined Cuba in being an illiteracy-free zone. Cuba-Venezuela trade is expected to reach more than $3.5 billion this year, about 40 percent higher than in 2005.

Under the ALBA agreements, Cuba has promised to send doctors and teachers to Bolivia, while Venezuela has promised to send gasoline. Venezuela will also set up a $100 million fund for development programs and a $30 million fund for social projects in Bolivia. Both countries have agreed to buy all of Bolivia’s soybeans, recently left without a market after Colombia signed a free-trade pact with the U.S. (USA Today)

“These new leaders have emerged and they make me the happiest man in the world,” said Castro. “Now, for the first time, there are three of us,” he added. (BBC)

Chavez stated, “ALBA is moving forward, and facing the aggression of the imperial projects of the free trade agreement, all we can do is attack.”

Morales added that the agreements would help Bolivia emerge from an economic crisis. “Only in Cuba and Venezuela can we get unconditional solidarity. They are the best allies for changing Bolivia.”

Morales’ moves to the left will not go unnoticed or unchallenged by U.S. imperialism. It remains to be seen how thoroughgoing these changes can be. The masses of Bolivia, the Indigenous especially, expect real change and have been clamoring for it for years. They will be decisive in the struggles yet to come.