BOLIVIA, September 10, 2008. Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered the expulsion of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg on Wednesday accusing him of supporting the conservative opposition and promoting division in the country, reported Reuters. "The ambassador of the United States is conspiring against democracy and wants Bolivia to break apart," said Morales, in a speech at the presidential palace in La Paz. He also sharply condemned the wave of violence, including attacks on gas pipelines, carried out by the opposition in several regions. "I’m asking our Foreign minister…to send the ambassador a note, telling him to immediately return to his country. We don’t want [this] separatist conspiring against our national unity and threatening democracy," added Morales. During a press conference, Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana warned that Bolivia is "on the verge of an atypical coup against institutional order that is being carried out today from the opposition governor’s offices and the civic committees, one where tanks are not necessary." Quintana announced that the government had ordered "a greater military presence" to safeguard hydrocarbon refining and pumping plants in the southeast of the country, isolated due to roadblocks. (Cubaminrex- Granma) |