Evo Morales blames the US for Honduran coup

Bolivian President Evo Morales reiterated on Monday accusations against the U.S. administration, blaming Washington for leading last month’s coup in Honduras.

Morales made his comments during an official trip to Uruguay where he met with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez and discussed issues of regional importance including the expansion of Bolivia’s sea access.

Following the meeting Morales renewed accusations he had made late last week that the United States – which has denounced the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya – was involved in the coup.

“Perhaps Obama doesn’t know it, but the structure of the (U.S.) empire still remains and what was supposed to happen last year in Bolivia is now happening in Honduras. It is an aggression, a provocation act of the empire,” the Bolivian president told a news conference in reference to a spate of clashes which broke last year in Bolivia when several regions demanded autonomy.

“I have first-hand information that the Southern Command of the United States has led the (military) coup in Honduras,” he added, declining to give further details.

Morales and Vezquez also issued a joint statement in support of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, saying they would not recognise any other authority in Honduras.

Zelaya, a leftist who was due to leave power in 2010, was bundled out of office at gunpoint by troops and flown into exile in Costa Rica two weeks ago, in a coup that has been widely condemned abroad.

Since then, he has been travelling throughout Central America and the United States, shoring up support from countries throughout the world in an attempt to regain his position in Honduras.

Morales also said that Uruguay and Bolivia were working closely to explore ways of expanding sea access for Bolivia.

“A commission of foreign ministry officials is already working to push forward the transfer of either a port in Nueva Palmira or Montevideo, to us. Having a port in Uruguay will provide Bolivia with access to the sea,” he said.

Sea access has been a major issue for Bolivia since the 1879-1883 War of the Pacific that allowed Chile to annex a vast northern expanse of land from both Peru and Bolivia.

Source: Reuters

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