“Coca Is Sacred for Bolivia,” States Bolivian Charge d’Affaires

At a press conference held in southern Bolivia, the city of Tarija, Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, accused the US of manipulating statistics on the scale of coca (stem material for the production of cocaine) plantation in Bolivia and stated that this country is trying to justify its failure in drug enforcement activates by doing so, and that is why it could be said that the reports are only excuses to justify their inabilities. Apart from Mr. Morales’s statements, the plantation of coca in Bolivia and its trade are sources of income for this country which, having adopted a socialistic policy, is trying to reduce the social gaps more than before. Although a while ago, some mineworkers and other social classes went on protests, according to international indices, the intensification of poverty has substantially been cut down on. To study the trends of development in Bolivia’s economy and the challenges ahead of Mr. Morales’s administration, we conducted an interview with Walter Yañez Guzmán, Bolivia’s Charge d’Affaires in Iran which is as follows. 

AVA Diplomatic’s Exclusive Interview with

Walter Yañez Guzmán, Bolivia’s Charge d’Affaires in Iran

Interview by Mohammadreza Nazari

 Mr. Evo Morales has recently been reelected as the President of Bolivia for the third consecutive time and shall run the country until 2020. What are his most significant priorities in this new round?

In his 3^rd terms of Presidency, Mr. Morales intends to make the decisions that began in 2006 efficiently practical. The main purpose these decisions aim to yield is to sail from capitalism and neoliberalism toward socialism. Socialism, in Mr. Morales’s sense, is defined within the values of Latin America. People, of course, should not mistake this type of socialism for the Soviet socialism, because this discipline is in compliance with our own qualities and characteristics and is focused on our longstanding traditions.

In the past, the US and Europe used to plunder our natural resources and presently, the Bolivian government has focused on nationalizing and make efficient use of these resources, because it does not want to let its power and authority slip away and become instruments for imperialistic powers and seeks to keep pace with them and ride alongside them.

Why hasn’t Mr. Morales implemented these policies during the past 10 years?

The pillars of such move were founded in 2006, but the changes have not been sudden. In fact, once Mr. Morales won power, efforts were focalized on modifying the public opinion. Before that, no one in Bolivia could even imagine an Indian would rise to Presidency and only white people could take the office, because they were believed to be the superior and smarter race.

As of the day Mr. Morales was elected President, the mindsets of the Bolivian people have changed and these changes led to the government’s decision to invest in the future and try to improve it.

Considering all the efforts, why are the Bolivian people still unsatisfied with the country’s economy?

The truth is that Bolivia has never possessed stable economy and has been constantly changing. We were initially focused on producing basic materials in Bolivia, but now, the government’s policies are tailored to bring industrial development into the country. As a point of fact, Bolivia used to be reliant on the oil and gas revenues and any fluctuation in the prices could rattle the country’s economy. But now, thanks to the new policies, our reliance on the proceeds of these products has been reduced.

In Bolivia, we try to help those people who are not well-provided. They may be unsatisfied and their dissatisfaction is reasonable, but some of them are exaggerating about the existing circumstances and infect the atmosphere with unnecessary tensions. Despite all these, in terms of economic growth among Latin American countries, Bolivia is ranked 2^nd. The first rank belongs to Panama which is due to the operation of the Panama Canal.

How much were the economic growth and inflation rate of Bolivia last year?

According to the findings of the World Bank and ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), which is headquartered in Chile, Bolivia’s annual economic growth has been estimated 5%. This rate, though, has never fallen under 4.5% over the past years, which, given the circumstances in Latin America and Bolivia’s interior situation, is a satisfactory growth. However, in terms of economic growth in Latin America, we are still way behind countries like Brazil.

The main objective is to obtain the intended rate of economic growth the World Bank has set by achieving industrial developments in the country, increasing the efficient use of natural resources and partnering with other countries. The World Bank is not much interested in Bolivia, though. Still it offered statistics and we try to achieve that required index.

Given the economic growth rate you pointed out, how much was Bolivia’s inflation rate last year?

I do not recollect an exact number now. But with the implementation of economic plans, the inflation has substantially decreased and is now at its lowest, which is less than 1%.

According to the IMF statistics which was extracted between 2005 and 2014, extreme poverty in Bolivia fell from 38.3% to 17.8% and the average poverty rate in this same period, was reduced from 60.6% to 37.7%. What measures has the Bolivian government taken to reduce poverty?

People used to be much poorer before 2006 and employment rate was very low. Since Mr. Morales won the office and unlike his predecessors who had clean forgotten the poor, he tried to help them and enhance their living situations.

Since Mr. Morales rose to power, according to the international statistics, Bolivia has been mentioned as a self-sufficient country that can stand on its own, while it used to be a poor country, and that indicates Bolivia is hopeful to make further progress in the future.

One of the promises Mr. Morales made during his campaign was to limit the plantation of coca, whereas Bolivian farmers earn huge profits out of it. How is this plan working out?

Mr. Morales never made a promise to stop the coca plantation, and even before he became President, he was into coca plantation business himself. He is trying to show to the world that not only is coca not a drug, but it also offers a lot of nutritional and medical values. Coca is culturally valuable for the Bolivian people.

European countries, of course, are trying to display coca as a drug and that is why they derived cocaine from it. But coca is not a drug in the essence and is a valuable and even sacred product for the Bolivian people.

Mr. Morales was intent on cutting down on the extreme growth of coca, not on its plantation, and in this, instead of cooperating with American institutions who, in many cases, appear two-faced, he is striving to enhance his collaborations with countries like France and Russia. Bolivia, nonetheless, has this matter under control now and will avoid any unneeded plantation.

Does that mean the plantation of coca will only be as much as fulfilling the domestic needs?

Presently, coca is used for nutritional purposes in Bolivia, because it is very rich in nutritional values and according to the 1971 UN Convention, coca is proven not to be a drug. We are trying to put this product in use and along with Bolivia’s industrial development, export coca to other countries, too.

This is an inescapable fact that a huge amount of cocaine is produced in Bolivia.

Drug problems began to exist in the 70s and 80s and as you know, it is not just Bolivia, but outside factors such as the Iran-Contra Affair also were in on it, too, in order to earn higher profits. Some of the American institutions have established laboratories in Bolivia to produce cocaine, but the government of Bolivia is getting rid of these labs and decreasing the drug production.

Is the law for banning the use of drugs passed in Bolivia?

We have Law 1008 in Bolivia which is taken very much seriously and views drug trafficking as a crime. It existed, of course, long before Mr. Morales won the office. This law addresses those who intend to smuggle drugs. It determines punishment for them and has prohibited the use of drugs. But it should be noted that coca is not considered to be a drug and a small number of them make wrong usages of it.

Let’s get down to the status of Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves. Mr. Morales gave 180 days to foreign companies to not only sign new contracts, but also recognize Bolivia’s ownership of the reserves they are working on. Foreign corporations accepted that approach, of course. This occurrence is viewed as the nationalization of Bolivia’s oil and gas industry. Would you please explain why that happened so?

Mr. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada who served President before Mr. Morales gave away Bolivia’s natural resources to foreign corporations as gifts! That is why Mr. Morales is trying to regulate the operation of foreign companies so that they would not be able to loot these resources. His efforts are to help the economy of Bolivia by nationalizing the oil and gas industry.

It should be noted, of course, that Bolivia would not earn much more profit by nationalizing its gas industry, because there is only one pipeline which exports gas to Brazil. Foreign companies have not made any commitment to spare a larger share to Bolivia in the case of implementing this agreement, either. What is your take on this?

There are some agreements that have been signed in the past and should be respected. Brazil, too, has promised to buy more gas. Bolivia owns a great wealth of gas reserves to sell. Argentina is another big buyer of Bolivia’s gas. Selling liquidated gas to Peru and Paraguay has also begun lately.

Although after Venezuela, Bolivia has the biggest gas reserves in South America, people did not have natural gas in their homes before Mr. Morales; a blessing which they have right now.

By taking into account the trend of the developments thus far and in spite of the fact that Venezuela owns more gas and oil resources, Bolivia is becoming an energy source for South America which indicates that in the future, it will have much more progress in this area.

On a note about Bolivia’s natural resources, we can refer to Santa Cruz Province which provides 70% of the world’s iron and magnesium. What investments have been made in this area?

Yes. This province has a vast lot of resources. There is also another city in Bolivia named Potosí where sizable amounts of lithium are extracted which is widely used in battery manufacturing in electronic devices and cellphones. Foreign companies, esp. the Chinese corporations, are very much inclined to invest in these mines. In the case of using iron ore mines also India offered some proposals which have not made much progress.

Despite the investments made already, we still see the objections of workers. An example would be the objections of the workers of the mine of Potosí. What are their protests mainly about?

The workers of the Potosí mine and other non-mineworkers had gone to La Paz. More explanations should be provided, of course, because this matter is not as simple as it looks.

Mr. Morales accused the government of Chile of provoking people. Was that true?

There are things that verify the role of Chile in some of those provocations. But Mr. Morales never confirmed that.

There are some domestic and foreign corporations, however, that abuse this matter and seek their own benefit in this. Just like a lot of South American countries, Bolivia has been played by some powers which intend to mar the Bolivian government. Therefore there are some protests in Bolivia which, deep down, aim at dragging the name of the government and nation through the mud.

Who are the ones standing behind the recent protests in Bolivia?

There are some private companies which try to insult the government by injecting money into the veins of the country. It has been in the talks that Chile is involved in that, but there is no evidence to verify this claim. We do not trust the US now, either. The US has always been after partners who meet its expectations, but Bolivia does not give in to that.

Do you believe a dynamite attack against the Bolivian Ministry of Interior, esp. in a way that damaged the Embassy of Germany which is located a bit farther, is just the work of a private company?

A country like Iran must have learned how other countries, esp. the US, interfere with another country’s interior affairs and puppeteer some agents inside it. We do not mean that a foreign corporation has necessarily made dynamite and given it to people, but we want to say that these companies provoke mineworkers to do these acts.

This is being taken care of, of course. The government and mineworkers are looking to reach an agreement. There are some requirements that are accepted and some others which are being studied. That is why discontents are continuing, but their intensity has declined. It should be also noted that the mineworkers who came from Potosí to La Paz do not earn as much as they can leave their jobs and lives behind for 15 days to stage protests. That is why we should investigate to figure out who is masterminding this behind the curtains.

Apart from the mineworkers’ protests, average-rank police officers have also rallied. If we confirm the theory of foreign hands in the recent demonstrations, then outsiders have been able to penetrate the Bolivian police force. What do you think?

Every organization is consisted of human beings. These people hold certain values dear to themselves. Some of them credit themselves and some other sell themselves short in a way that someone can give them some money and buy them so that they would do what they are asked to.

I am the son of a police officer myself and am aware of the realities that take place in the police world. Nowadays, because of their job difficulties and low wages, the police are going through so much trouble. Among them are good cops and bad cops. The Bolivian police tend to raise their officers’ salaries, but we should see what stands prior to other things. The condition of police officers is now better than before, but their income is still very low and they are classified among the lowest strata in Bolivia.

According to the existing data, police officers receive a monthly salary of $257 to $285. Is that right?

Yes, more or less so. Since 2006, the incomes of governmental employees have become better. Bolivia has a developing economy and there is still a lot of things to do. What matters now is that we are on the right path, but there is a long way ahead of us to get to our destination.

Over the past few months, we have been witnessing large-scale protests against corruption in Bolivia. An example would be the demonstrations held by the students of the University of San Simón in Cochabamba which turned into bloody fights. Another example is the corruption within the body of Bolivia’s Football Federation which led to the apprehension of its chairman. Considering the existing situations, what plans does Mr. Morales have to fight corruption in the country?

Corruption contaminates all governments and Bolivia is not an exception. Throughout the history, we bore witness to a lot of corruption in Bolivia. But in Mr. Morales’s terms, a ministry for “Institutional Transparency and Fight against Corruption” was established and a law in the name of Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz was passed.

This law is named after the man who was a Bolivian freedom fighter. In compliance with this law, those criminals who perpetrated corruption will be sentenced to heavy punishment. Even though many of them used to be Mr. Morales’s co-workers, Mr. Morales is very much intolerant of corruption and takes serious action against it.

Let me refer to the financial corruption before Mr. Morales. The then customs was a nest of corruption back then and instead of taking taxes, it received bribes, but now it is seriously acted against and things are looking up.

Is a coup foreseeable in Bolivia by corrupt officers?

Presently, the Army and Armed Forces are in better condition than before. They feel patriotic and that is why they help the government a lot. The government, of course, tries to make things even better for the Army. Regardless of the existing circumstances, officers and army staff are good people who work in fulfillment of the country’s interests. Currently, because of the solidarity that there is among Latin American countries, I can say that a coup d’état would not be a possibility.

Bolivian officials have said at times that the country pursues an independent foreign policy. Isn’t that statement in contrast with the apology of your country’s authorities to Argentina for the trip of Iran’s Minister of Defense?

That does not have much to do with the notion of independence, but it is about the mutual respect between countries. We respect Iran and the Iranian Minister of Defense, but Iran and Argentina still have some unresolved problems in their bilateral relations. We owe a simple explanation to our neighboring countries. This matter exists between Iran and Argentina and should be solved between the two of them.

As a country, we are responsible to welcome the officials of Iran or other countries who come to Bolivia in the best possible way. Sometimes there are misunderstandings, too. What we did was within the best diplomatic manners that could be carried out. In this case, the governments of Argentina and Iran should work out their problems like two brothers.

What level are the ties between Iran and Bolivia at?

The political ties between Iran and Bolivia have always been excellent in quality. They both have helped each other in various areas. Iran and Bolivia share a great wealth of common grounds in anti-imperialistic and revolutionary spirits.

What measures have been thought of for the purpose of rebuilding the two countries’ trade ties?

Considering the variety of exporting companies in Bolivia and the conducted researches, good activities can be carried out in the field of nutritional materials, esp. because of the interest of the Iranian people in that area.

There is a material in Bolivia named “quinoa” which has very high nutritional values. This product can be considered for export. There is also a plant named “Stevia” in Bolivia which is a good substitute for sugar and prevents blood sugar problems and diabetes from happening. Of course, STEVIA can be enlisted as an exported product to Iran already.

What is the status of the Iran-Bolivia Oil Company?

As a result of the absence of proper mechanisms and procedures to transact money to the outside of Iran, many companies were shut down. But now, with the lift-off of the sanctions against Iran, they can resume their operations again.

Currently, we are working on reopening this company. There are a number of meetings to be held and if that happens, it can contribute to the reopening of this company. In other areas, esp. in technology, some activates about to take place. In addition, as Bolivia intends to start on the matter of nuclear energy, perhaps Iran’s experience and knowhow can come in handy.

Has Bolivia drafted a specific action plan to cooperate with Iran in the nuclear section?

Bolivia intends to just start its activities in the nuclear energy section. Now, Bolivia wants to construct a nuclear energy plant which is going to be the first step. In this way, we need the help of countries such as Iran who have gained experience in this field.

Which countries have stated their readiness to cooperate with Bolivia in this area?

At the moment, I can recall France, Argentina and South Korea who have offered their proposals for cooperation. The Bolivian government, of course, is now looking for partners who can help Bolivia in this matter.

How can Iran help Bolivia in building a nuclear plant?

Relying on its experience, Iran can provide consultations for Bolivia, for example, on the matter of the number of workers that we should employ to build a nuclear plant.

In my opinion, Bolivia can ask Iran for technical support. But that is just a personal opinion, because Bolivia will be mainly looking for technical support and consultations.