BOLIVIA/EU: Bolivian president Evo Morales has pledged to fund a radical reform of society by nationalising a range of industrial sectors in the state from mining to coca production.
He said land owned by people who do not farm their holdings properly may also be redistributed, a move that could prompt tension with Brazilian landowners in Bolivia.
In an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr Morales said he would use Bolivia's natural resources to solve economic and social problems. But he said that nobody would be "expropriated or expelled" from his policy of nationalisation.
Mr Morales, who was elected president of Bolivia in December, shocked the world by announcing the nationalisation of Bolivia's natural gas industry on May 1st. The US and EU have criticised the nationalisation programme, which threatens investments by a host of foreign companies including Brazil's Petrobras and France's Total.
But Mr Morales said yesterday that European companies would still be able to profit from their investments in Bolivia, although they would belong to the Bolivian state.
"Nobody is being expropriated and nobody is being expelled . . . Any company that has invested in Bolivia will have every right to regain its investment but they will be partners, not owners of natural resources," said Mr Morales, in a speech that was boycotted by most of the MEPs in the largest parliamentary group, the European People's Party (EPP).
The EPP had proposed a debate in the parliament arguing that Bolivia's nationalisation programme amounted to an infringement of human rights. This proposal - and another to bar Mr Morales from speaking - were rejected.
Mr Morales is the first indigenous leader of Bolivia to be elected president. He campaigned on a platform to reduce poverty and radically change Bolivian society.
Responding to questions after his speech, Mr Morales said he would continue his efforts to fund a reform of society through nationalisation. He also pledged to undertake an agrarian revolution during his term of office.
He said the government would take action against large landowners who seized land and used it as a bargaining chip rather than farming it properly.
Mr Morales said he would take action against mining companies that had not used their concessions and invested properly. The mining concessions owned by firms that invested and created jobs would be respected, he said.
Mr Morales also signalled he would consider nationalising coca production. He also called on EU leaders to tackle the problem of banking secrecy, which he said contributed to drug trafficking.