PAN ANDEAN RESOURCES......Discussion thread

By Carlos Valdez
ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:47 p.m. December 28, 2005

LA PAZ, Bolivia – President-elect Evo Morales has tried to gain crucial support from Bolivia's powerful business and civic leaders with a conciliatory meeting calculated to overcome widespread fears about the fiery leftist's economic policies.
The Aymara Indian who rose to prominence as a coca-growing activist has been viewed with great suspicion by the Bolivian elite, but they applauded Tuesday night after Morales said his government would create a stable, legal and economic environment to attract investment and create jobs.


"I do not want to harm anybody. I do not want to expropriate or confiscate any assets," Morales told the businessmen and civic leaders of Santa Cruz, a relatively wealthy city that has sought more autonomy in the impoverished country. "I want to learn from the businessmen."

Morales promised to hold a referendum on their autonomy demands, and said he would quickly resolve a dispute over the development of El Mutun, a rich iron mining project near the border with Brazil that would create some 2,000 jobs in the Santa Cruz area.

Public bidding for the project had been postponed after Morales and the outgoing government jointly agreed to take more time to learn the details, angering regional leaders.

"He promised more than what we asked for," said Gabriel Dabdoub, the president of the region's powerful chamber of commerce. "Let's now hope he will fulfill his promises."

Morales cemented his image as a radical as one of the leaders of street protests that toppled two Bolivian presidents and forced the government to cancel plans to export natural gas and supply privatized water to El Alto, a slum city next to La Paz.

Morales has also drawn the attention of the American government with his pledges to halt the U.S.-backed campaign to end the growing of coca leaf, which is used to make cocaine.

But he adopted a conciliatory tone with business leaders Tuesday night.

"I do not have a professional education, but it is important that we cooperate," added Morales, who left school after the 11th grade. "You have the professional capacity, I have the social consciousness."

On Friday, Morales will travel to Cuba to meet with President Fidel Castro, opening a world tour that will also take him to Brazil, Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, China and South Africa before his Jan. 22 inauguration.