Bolivia's Evo morales won't sign declaration unless revised
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Bolivian President Evo Morales on Saturday became the second leader to publicly denounce the final declaration all 34 hemispheric leaders are supposed to sign at the conclusion of the Fifth Summit of the Americas.
Without offering details, Morales said Bolivia could not implement the biofuels request, which seeks a regional partnership on new ways to produce and use energy. He said he would not sign the document Sunday unless the section on biofuels is revised.
''Our government will not sign this document,'' he said at a midday Saturday news conference. ``Garbage is more important than human life. We should go for human life rather than the scraps of the United States.''
Morales' threat to reject the summit declaration followed a similar announcement by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez prior to Friday's opening ceremony. At a gathering in Venezuela, Chávez said he would ''veto'' the declaration because the written document appeared ``as if time had not passed.''
Edwin Carrington, the Secretary General of the 14-member Caribbean Community, expressed disappointment over Chávez's comments, saying a lot of work and more than a year had gone into preparing the final declaration.
''Nothing is perfect,'' he said.
At the Morales press conference, the Bolivian leader used the opportunity not only to voice his concern over the summit document, but also to express his disappointment over the absence of Cuba. He said he could not understand how debates over human prosperity and the environment could take place at the summit without Cuba's presence.
Cuba's membership to the Organization of American States -- organizers of the summit -- was suspended in 1962.
Morales also railed against capitalism, blaming it for the global financial crisis, and he also accused Washington of previous meddling in his country's affairs. He said he wanted Obama to repudiate a recent alleged plot to assassinate him, otherwise, ``I might think it was organized through the embassy.''
Last year, Morales ejected the U.S. ambassador and Drug Enforcement Administration officials based in his country over accusations that American diplomats had supported the opposition. He said that while President Obama has promised changed, it has not reached U.S. officials in Bolivia.
''Those staff members continue to operate as if they were serving the Bush administration,'' he said. ``It's up to the U.S. government to improve our relations. If diplomatic relations have to do with investments ... and not meddling and conspiracies, they are welcomed.''
Morales said he came to the summit ``seeking a dialogue of cooperation, not relations built on conspiracies.''
''One hundred days have gone by and we in Boliva have yet to feel any changes,'' Morales said, referring to Obama's length in office. ``The policy of conspiracy continues.''
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