Bolivian Prez on Hunger Strike Over Voting Law

(NEWSER) - Bolivian President Evo Morales ended his hunger strike today after the country’s legislature agreed to pass a law further enfranchising his native constituency, Bloomberg reports. The bill passed after Morales reduced his demand for new indigenous voting districts from 14 to seven. “The Bolivian people will never forget this revolutionary process,” the president said moments after ending the five-day fast. More»

Morales nationalizes power grid

(NEWSER) - Bolivian President Evo Morales marked May Day by ordering the country's armed forces to seize the assets of the country's main electricity company. Spanish-owned Red Electrica owned and operated around 85% of Bolivia's power grid, and Morales announced that he was nationalizing the company because it had failed to invest enough in his country, reports the BBC . "Long live the First of May and long live nationalization," he said in a televised speech. More»

Landlocked country aims to regain access after 132 years

(NEWSER) - After more than a century with no access to the Pacific, Bolivia is threatening to take Chile to international court in a fight for its right to sail. Bolivia lost those rights in a war 132 years ago, and it remains an “open wound,” according to President Evo Morales. “We must go to international tribunals and organizations to demand free and sovereign access to the sea,” he said. But Chile’s leader said the idea presented a “serious obstacle” in their relations, the BBC reports. More»

Aymara priest found with 530lbs of cocaine

(NEWSER) - Chewing coca leaves has a strong—and legal—place in the Aymara culture of Bolivian president and former coca farmer Evo Morales. Running a lab churning out hundreds of pounds of processed cocaine, however, doesn't. The Aymara priest who presided over Morales' traditional blessing ceremony has been arrested after a cocaine lab and 530 pounds of liquid cocaine were found at his home, Reuters reports. More»

Bolivian prez accuses US of assassination plot

(NEWSER) - President Obama defended his friendly chat with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and asked Cuba to free its political prisoners, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the close of the Summit of the America's today, Obama brushed off Republican criticism, saying that turning a new page with Venezuela and Cuba represents "an opportunity for frank dialogue on a range of issues." More»