WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Thursday that Bolivian President Evo Morales made a "grave error that has seriously damaged" US-Bolivian ties by ordering the expulsion of the US ambassador.
Against a backdrop of escalating domestic unrest, Morales on Wednesday ordered Ambassador Philip Goldberg expelled, accusing him of contributing to divisions in the country which the government warned was headed towards "civil war."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that the charges against Goldberg were "baseless" and warned that Washington was considering a whole range of options before retaliating.
"President Morales's action is a grave error that has seriously damaged the bilateral relationship," McCormack said, reading a statement.
"The United States is the largest single country provider of development assistance to Bolivia, is Bolivia's largest export market, and is the major provider of counter-narcotics assistance," he said.
"Our relationship has deep historical roots and benefits the peoples of both countries," the statement said.
"We regret that President Morales has chosen this course, it will prejudice the interests of both countries, undermine the ongoing fight against drug trafficking, and will have serious regional implications," he said.
McCormack said that during a meeting on Wednesday, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca informed Goldberg that Morales had ordered him declared persona non grata, a move resulting in expulsion.
The ambassador will "be leaving in the near future," possibly within 72 hours, McCormack said.
"This unwarranted action followed the Bolivian government's failure on September 9 to address security threats to US counter-narcotic operations in the Chapare region, which caused withdrawal of DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) personnel," he said.
"President Morales publicly justified his decision with a series of allegations against Ambassador Goldberg. These allegations are baseless," he said.
The US spokesman would not say how the United States might retaliate, adding: "We're at the point of considering all our options regarding our relationship."
The move came amid violence in several regions that Morales's spokesman, Ivan Canelas, said were creating conditions for "a sort of civil war."
Anti-government protesters on Tuesday ransacked government offices, and seized oil facilities and three regional airports.
In southeast Bolivia, a gas pipeline was blown up Wednesday in what the head of the state energy company YPSL, Santos Ramirez, said was a "terrorist attack" by anti-government protesters.
The explosion occurred in Yacuiba, near the border with Argentina, causing a cut in natural gas supplies to that country and to Brazil.
The unrest was a worsening of a political conflict between Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, and rebel governors in five of the country's nine states.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
