Unasur says political dialogue in Bolivia achieves progress
9/10/2008 17:26
The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) said yesterday that the
Bolivian government and the opposition have achieved progress in their
negotiation despite a suspension of the dialogue.
According to former Chilean
Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdes, the Bolivian government has agreed to add
in the new constitution some of the opposition's proposals.
Five of Bolivia's
nine provinces including Tarija and Santa Cruz have been demanding autonomy from
the central government. They are also against Morales' new constitution that
allows more wealth to be distributed to the poor.
The situation worsened
after the rightist groups killed 30 Morales' supporters in the province of Pando
on Sept. 11 and Morales accused them of attempting to overthrown him.
Valdes
said that the agreements were reached after a "sincere exchange of opinions"
between the two conflicting parties.
On Sept. 12, leaders and representatives
from 12 members of the Unasur met in Santiago to discuss the political crisis in
Bolivia and decided to support the government of Morales.
Although political
dialogue in Bolivia was suspended after the opposition cancelled the talks, the
current political climate is totally different from the period before the Unasur
meeting, Valdes said.
Mario Cossio, governor of the major
opposition-controlled province of Tarija in the south of the country, said
Morales' government did not obey its early promises which laid the foundation
for the dialogue.
Xinhua
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