Weekly Report - 28 July 2011 (WR-11-30)

BOLIVIA | Venezuela cooperation on the wane. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales recently announced that local money would now fund the government social programme known as “Bolivia changes, Evo delivers” hitherto financed by members of the Venezuela-led regional initiative Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Alba) – and principally Venezuela. According to the Morales government, the program has carried more than 4,000 projects across the country since 2007 such as the construction of schools and hospitals with an investment of US$290m. Separately a recent report by the Instituto Boliviano de Comercio Exterior (IBCE), which lobbies on behalf of big business also raised further questions over bilateral cooperation, The report showed that while Bolivia’s exports to Venezuela registered the highest level in the last 11 years, reaching US$339m, exports in the first two months of 2011 plummeted US$3.4m, down from US$51.4m in the same period the previous year. The drop in textiles was even more pronounced over the same period – to US$646,452 from US$4.6m in 2010. Gary Rodríguez, the IBCE’s general manager told reporters that the decline owed to problems with Venezuelan bureaucracy. According to the IBCE, Bolivia’s exports to Venezuela increased 578% over the 2000-2010 period, reaching a total of US$2.23bn.

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