Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

At UN, Evo Morales Calls Colombia “US Candidate,” IMF Praise Out of MDG Document

UNITED NATIONS, September 21, updated -- With Colombia running for a seat on the UN Security Council, several leftist countries in Latin America have been grumbling. Inner City Press asked Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday for his nation's view. After asking a second time, Morales said Colombia “is a candidate of the United States.”

  Earlier, Inner City Press asked Morales about the International Monetary Fund, criticism of which was proposed for the MDG Summit outcome document by Bolivia, Venezuela and others, but which was edited out.

  Morales replied that the IMF is guilty of “blackmail,” such as applying pressure for privatization. In the press conference before Bolivia's, Venezuela's Permanent Representative to the UN Jorge Valero told Inner City Press that at least a portion of the document what would have praised the IMF and World Bank had been removed.

  Valero declined Inner City Press' question about Colombia, saying that relations are going better with the country and it is in the hands of Hugo Chavez. Neither did he answer what had happened to the earlier prediction his country would head the Group of 77 this year: Argentina has now gotten the spot.

Evo Morales at UN, G-77, Argentina replacing Venezuela not shown

  Morales was asked how the Obama administration has treated Bolivia. Badly, Morales said, questioning how an African American could mistreat an indigenous person, noting various forms of US aid that have been cut. [See response of P.J. Crowley of US, below.]

Inner City Press had wanted to ask Morales for his views on immigration, but time did not permit. His Ambassador to the UN Pablo Solon said he will speak again later in this week. Watch this site.

Footnote: Evo Morales' press conference as a head of state was rare this eye. Earlier on Tuesday, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan was replaced by his foreign minister, just as Hugo Chavez was replaced by Ambassador Valero. But Rosa Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, slated for a 2:30 press conference, canceled altogether. Another US candidate? Barack Obama has having one of his few bilateral meetings with her, on Friday. Watch this site.

Update of 7 p.m. -- at a briefing across from the UN at the US Mission, Inner City Press asked P.J. Crowley of the US State Department about what Morales said, about aid and Colombia.
 
  Crowley said that US aid to Bolivia has been "restructured" based on conditions on the ground making Bolivia "ineligible" for U.S. aid.

  Crowley did not answer on Colombia. But, in response to Inner City Press' question of whom the US supports between Germany, Portugal and Canada for the two Western European and Other Group seats on the Security Council, Crowley said "I'm quite confident we will not" describe "our deliberation on votes" for seats at the UN. 
 
   But the US has made much of seats it opposed Iran for, to answer criticism of Iran gaining a seat on the Committee on that Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women....

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