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In reply to the discussion: US secretly created 'Cuban Twitter' to stir unrest [View all]Judi Lynn
(160,527 posts)just as Bolivia threw them out in spite of their warnings.
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USAID's Bolivian headquarters. Looks as if they came prepared to stay.[/center]
Bolivian President Evo Morales orders expulsion of USAID
By Mariano Castillo, CNN
updated 6:50 PM EDT, Wed May 1, 2013
(CNN) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales said he is expelling the U.S. Agency for International Development from his country for allegedly meddling and conspiring against the government.
"USAID is out; I ask the foreign minister to immediately communicate with the U.S. Embassy," Morales said in a speech Wednesday, according to the state-run ABI news agency.
According to USAID's Bolivia website, the agency has operated there since 1964. It says it carries out health, sustainable development and environmental programs in the country. The agency says its 2011 budget for Bolivia was $26.7 million.
The State Department called the decision regrettable and said the ones who will be hurt by the expulsion will be ordinary Bolivians.
"We deny the baseless allegations made by the Bolivian government," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said of the accusations that the agency meddled in Bolivian affairs.
More:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/americas/bolivia-usaid-expelled
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Patrick Ventrell[/center]