Evo asks Petrobras refinery gift
FABIANO MAISONNAVE
special envoy of the Folha de S. Paulo to La Paz
Half serious, half joking, Bolivian President Evo Morales, ordered yesterday the Brazilian Government to "present" the two Petrobras refineries in the country, the nationalization decree, will have to go to maintain control of the state company YPFB.
also confirmed that if no agreement with Petrobras or another company within the period ending on Saturday, the military would take its premises, as Folha reported yesterday.
"The two refineries cost about $ 100 million. For Brazil, it's nothing. If I were Brazil, if it were me, the present," said Morales, with a slight smile, during an interview with foreign journalists.
Located in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, the plants were acquired by Petrobras in 1999 and, alone, virtually the entire market supply of oil in Bolivia. It's a small part of total investment company in the country - $ 1.5 billion, along with the members. Petrobras says that yields only with compensation.
The transfer of the two plants and the renegotiation of gas prices are the two major themes that are still pending between Petrobras and Bolivia. On Saturday, the two sides reached an agreement on new contracts for gas exploration in the mega San Alberto and San Antonio, the largest in the country.
About the reelection of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Morales said that "we have four years to not renegotiate Brazil's interests and the interests of Bolivia, but the interest of our people. I repeat what I said the other night: with Brazil, we have marriage without divorce. "
Morales thanked the support of the Armed Forces during the final negotiations with the companies, closed on Saturday. "If there was new contracts, he would surely have been a full mobilization of our armed forces to exercise the right of ownership, as in any other country. Every state, every government has every right of ownership over their natural resources. "
Folha revealed yesterday that the eight days the deadline for negotiating contracts, an emissary from Morales told Lula's campaign manager, Marco Aurelio Garcia, that Petrobras would be taken by the military if there was no agreement until last Saturday, the eve of the second inning.
About ten companies with contracts signed between Friday and Saturday, Morales predicted to be sent to Congress in 13 days and approved before the end of the year.
The president praised enough colleagues from Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, and France, Jacques Chirac. In evaluating the government, the recent signing of a major contract for the purchase and sale of oil to Argentina and the agreement with French Total before deadline contributed to Petrobras and other companies accepted the conditions imposed by Bolivia.
Asked about the participation in the negotiations, the Bolivian side of a U.S. lawyer linked to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, Morales was evasive and merely said that there was international assistance, without cost to the government. (LEAF)
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