Economic Integration and 'Technological Liberation' can Resist Division, Domination: Evo Morales

Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, called for greater Latin American integration in order to be competitive and resiliant in a tumultuous global economy, according to Prensa Latina.

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Morales said that Latin America has an “enormous responsibility” as a region with a wealth of natural resources to integrate economically in order to resist the efforts of dominant global industrialized economies, such as the United States, to gain control over this natural wealth.

Speaking at the opening of new offices of the Financial Fund for the Development of the River Plate Basin, the President accused the United States and other dominant economies of engaging in subversive efforts to provoke internal conflicts in Latin America, using the resulting division as a means of obtaining political and economic control.

He said that the only way of overcoming efforts at control and division in order to stand strong in the face of a difficult global economy is regional integration, by working together with “solidarity and complementarity” to solve poverty.

Morales spoke of the uphill battle faced by Bolivia following their decision to nationalize natural resources, as they looked to industrialize and aquire technology and trade with China, North America, Europe, and other regions of the world as an example of the need for regional economic solidarity.

He called for “technological liberation” in the region in order to self-finance, develop, and produce the needed technology to gain full sovereignty over resources.

The Bolivian President also took to Twitter in order to thank the Development Bank of Latin America for financing the construction of a major highway in Bolivia, calling the bank an important player in the region's development.

“After 33 years the Bank of Latin America is for the development and integration of the people,” he said.

Morales praised the work of economist Luis Enrique Garcia, who has served as the bank's executive president for 25 years and seen the organization grow from an institution only encompassing 5 coutnries – Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru – to being a major integrative force for Latin America tying together 19 countries.

The remarks also come as the President recently received a flurry of death threats through Twitter, which Bolivian Minister of Communication Gisela Lopez said tended to occur when Morales criticizes foreign intervention and calls for universal citizenship.