Morales enacts new Bolivian constitution  

AFP reports that Bolivian President Evo Morales has enacted a new constitution which further redistributes control of the countries resources to indigenous people - Morales enacts new Bolivian constitution

President Evo Morales on Saturday proclaimed the start of "communitarian socialism" in Bolivia as he enacted a new constitution that empowers the country's indigenous majority and allows him to seek reelection.

The move is the centerpiece of Morales' promise to "re-found Bolivia," South America's poorest country, and overturn a centuries-old political and social order inherited from Spanish colonial times.

Morales, the first indigenous president since Bolivia declared independence from Spain in 1825, told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters that right-wing opposition groups have been trying to oust and even kill him ever since he took office in 2006.

"Now I can say: you can take me out of the (government) palace, you can kill me ... mission accomplished for a united Bolivia!" he told the crowd in the working-class town of El Alto, a bastion of Morales support, just outside the capital La Paz. "Only the wisdom of our people, of our social forces have let us identify and defeat external agents, defeat US imperialism," he told the cheering crowd.

He noted that the new constitution bans foreign military bases in Bolivia, and made reference to the expulsion in September of US ambassador Philip Goldberg -- allegedly for organizing a plot against him -- and later all agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The sweeping constitutional changes allow 36 indigenous communities and groups to win the right to territory, language and their own "community" justice, and enacts agrarian reform measures by limiting the size of landholdings.

The IHT reports that Morales is heading to Russia to sign a gas deal with Gazprom - Bolivia leader to visit Russia, sign Gazprom deal.

Bolivia's vice minister of energy says President Evo Morales is heading to Moscow this month to sign a $3 billion deal with Russia's Gazprom energy giant. ... Donaire said Wednesday the pact covers development of Bolivia's natural gas industry, creation of a regional gas institute and updates to an earlier deal that also involves France's Total SA.

Reuters reports that Bolivia enjoyed high oil and gas prices in 2008 - Bolivia natgas, mineral exports up 42.6 pct in '08. I suspect there will be a large reversal this year.

Bolivian exports rose by 42.6 percent in 2008 to a record $6.84 billion on the back of strong prices for natural gas and minerals, the Andean country's top revenue earners, the government said on Wednesday.

The value of Bolivian exports grew strongly during the first nine months of 2008, but growth slowed in the fourth quarter due to the global financial crisis, the National Statistics Institute, or INE, said in a report.

Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales is striving to increase state revenues from the country's natural resources and has raised taxes on energy and mining companies since taking office in early 2006. He has also nationalized several energy and mining firms as well as the country's largest telecommunications company.

Bolivian exports have been increasing since 2001, when exports from the impoverished South American country totaled $1.23 billion. Imports rose by 44.25 percent in 2008 to $4.99 billion, helping Bolivia achieve a trade surplus last year, the INE said in a separate report.

Sales of fossil fuels and minerals accounted for 72.4 percent of total exports, the INE said, and sales of natural gas and other fuels represented nearly 50 percent of exports.

Bloomberg reports that Venezuela is also investing in Bolivian energy projects - Bolivia’s Gas Investors to Spend $530 Million in 2009.

Bolivia’s energy minister said the country expects to boost oil and natural-gas investment to $530 million this year as ventures with Russia and Venezuela fill a void left by private investors.

Gazprom OAO, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, agreed to develop deposits in Bolivia’s gas-rich eastern lowlands, Bolivian Hydrocarbon and Energy Minister Saul Avalos said in an interview Feb. 4 at his La Paz office. Venezuela and Bolivia’s state oil companies plan to invest $240 million to explore in Bolivia. “The amount of investment this year is higher than before the nationalization,” Avalos said.

Investment in the Andean nation dropped almost 80 percent since President Evo Morales bought out refining assets and raised taxes to nationalize the gas and oil industries in October 2006. Investment fell to $120 million in 2006, Morales’s first year in office, from a peak of $580.8 million in 1999.

The energy industry had forecasted $332 million of energy investments in 2008. Bolivia has the second-biggest natural-gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.