Bolivian President
Accuses U.S. of
Conspiracy
The relationship between
Bolivia and the United
States turned worse on
Sunday after Bolivia's
President Evo Morales
accused the U.S.
ambassador of conspiring
against his government.
The U.S. ambassador
Phillip Goldberg "aimed
to be a counterweight to
this government and
erode its legitimacy,"
Morales told reporters
Sunday, calling on the
U.S. government to
practice diplomacy
instead of politics.
Morales cited a photo of
Goldberg with John Jairo
Venegas, a Colombian
citizen accused of
crimes, and a leading
opposition figure from
the southern Bolivia
department of Santa
Cruz, during a business
expo.
The photo, published
last week by Spanish
news agency EFE, was
claimed by the United
States to be a montage.
Diplomatic ties between
the United States and
Bolivia have frayed
since Morales, a
leftwing indigenous
former coca farmer, took
power last year.
Last month Goldberg was
forced to apologize to
the Bolivian government
after he mocked a
suggestion by Morales
that the U.N.
headquarters be moved
away from New York as
Bolivian officials had
difficulty entering the
United States to attend
a U.N. General Assembly
meeting.
Goldberg joked that
Morales may also want to
move the Walt Disney
headquarters, triggering
a diplomatic spat
between the two
countries.
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