BOLIVIA-MORALES/EXCLUSIVE Turning the page, Bolivia's Morales embraces Vatican diplomacy under Francis

Record ID: 147866

  • Title: BOLIVIA-MORALES/EXCLUSIVE Turning the page, Bolivia's Morales embraces Vatican diplomacy under Francis
  • Date: 9th July 2015
  • Summary: EL ALTO, BOLIVIA (JULY 8, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT, EVO MORALES, WITH POPE FRANCIS DURING PAPAL VISIT SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA (JULY 9, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT, EVO MORALES, SAYING: "I am convinced after hearing Pope Francis's message yesterday, a message that was recorded on my hard disk, that the Church must serve evangeli
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAPFYE0RU6S795H1MWTIWB04JV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Thursday (July 9) that he hoped for Bolivia to re-establish diplomatic ties with the United States, taking inspiration from the peaceful dialogue promoted by Pope Francis in his mediation of the U.S.-Cuban rapprochement.
    During the interview in the presidential hangar of a small Santa Cruz airport, Morales said he had been raised Catholic but that the church's criticisms of his government, including accusations he wielded an autocratic style of leadership, had eroded trust in the church.
    However, Morales said that in the Argentine-born Pope Francis he now had an ally championing many of the same causes.
    "I am convinced after hearing Pope Francis's message yesterday, a message that was recorded on my hard disk, that the Church must serve evangelicals, the common good, and our collective house, the Earth. We agree on issues such as capitalism, Mother Earth and wealth distribution. We are sure that our institutional relations will improve with the Bolivian Episcopal Conference," Morales said on Thursday.
    The pontiff praised Bolivia's social reforms to spread wealth and urged the world not to view prosperity as material wealth, an interpretation he said only bred conflict.
    Morales also expressed admiration for the pope's promotion of peace and dialogue in order to overcome political hostilities, saying he intended for Bolivia to restore full diplomatic relations with the United States, but doubted this would happen soon.
    Relations between Bolivia and the United States disintegrated in 2008 when the leader of the South American nation expelled Washington's ambassador, accusing the United States of conspiring to overthrow his government, and kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
    A prominent member of South America's leftist bloc, Morales told Reuters in an interview he had sought a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama but had not received a response.
    Asked if Bolivia wanted to restore full relations with the United States, the president said he had a strong desire for this to happen.
    Morales, who frequently expounds fiery anti-capitalist and anti-American rhetoric, said both countries needed to share a mutual respect before ambassadors could be reinstated. Diplomatic relations were first established in 1848.
    He also addressed La Paz's drive to claim land that provides access to the sea.
    "This is not a problem for the Latin American countries, but for those states which still have a colonial mentality. We hope to overcome this. I think we will. Think of the Pope, he promotes and suggests that we put into motion peaceful solutions through dialogue, sincerely and honestly, for the good of our people. Further to this, having an access route to the sea is is essential to our integration to South America," Morales said.
    Neighbouring Chile and Bolivia are currently at the Hague regarding the granting of a corridor of sovereign Chilean territory to link landlocked Bolivia to the sea.
    Further to championing the pope's role in the thawing of U.S.-Cuban relations announced in December, Morales stressed the development was purely a Cuban and a global triumph, giving no credit to the U.S. counterpart.
    "We salute and admire the Pope's gestures to re-establish diplomatic relations. Cuba was in the right, it held the truth. Fortunately, after more than 50 years the moment came to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US. It is no concession of Obama's but the triumph of the Cuban people and the world as a whole," said Morales.
    Morales presented Francis with gifts on the Pope's arrival to Bolivia, including a hammer-and-sickle crucifix in honour of a Jesuit priest who was killed by Bolivian paramilitaries in 1980. Francis stopped and visited the site where his fellow Jesuit was found.
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