Rice meets with Morales in Bolivia

after rice attends michelle bachelet's inauguration today in santiago, chile, she jets back up to la paz to meet with evo...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to meet Saturday with Bolivian President Evo Morales, U.S. officials said, as the cordial relations promised by the Bush administration after Morales's January inauguration show signs of strain.

after the usual u.s. "my way or the highway" smackdown, it's good that she's getting some face time...

In the past two weeks, relations between the U.S. and Bolivian governments have grown tense. Morales lashed out at the United States for cutting off funds to a Bolivian counterterrorism unit after Morales named a controversial commander as its leader. He labeled the move "blackmail" and vowed not to return weapons requested by the United States after the program was discontinued.

Two weeks ago, a Bolivian legislator who is one of Morales's closest friends learned that her U.S. visa had been revoked because of security concerns.

well, condi may want to talk and evo may want to talk but i'll bet george ain't interested and god help us all if john bolton sticks his nose into it...

Morales declined to discuss the recent spats. He described his upcoming meeting with Rice as "historic" and said he hoped to talk with her about bilateral economic ties.

"We are always open to dialogue. We can talk to President Bush, but we can also talk with Fidel Castro -- that is our culture of dialogue," he said. "We have no fear about talking, we are going to keep talking. They have asked us to turn over a new leaf and start new relations," Morales told reporters in La Paz, the Bolivian capital. "Nevertheless, I'm receiving a lot of aggression, a lot of provocation from the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. government."

aggression and provocation 'r' us...

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