Chavez says US working for coup in Bolivia

Funny that Bush is worried about erosion of democracy in Venezuela and Bolivia but not here at home.

Both Chavez and Morales are democratically elected - which is more than I can say for Bush, who lost one election and was appointed anyway, and who "won" the second election on fraud and dirty tricks.

It's very sad that legally elected governments of other countries are not allowed to do what they determine is best for their own people without interference from Amerikkka, at the behest of Amerikkkan business interests, interests which don't care at all about the quality of life for Venezuelans, Bolivians or Americans either. They care only about profit.
TIWANAKU, Bolivia (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday bluntly accused the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia of trying to stir up military rebellion against his leftist ally Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Chavez, at the forefront of a leftist shift that is challenging U.S. influence in Latin America, routinely trades insults with Washington, which he blames for a short-lived coup that briefly toppled his own government in 2002.

"The (U.S.) embassy in Bolivia is already whispering in the ears of the Bolivian military to turn them against the government of Evo Morales," said Chavez, wearing a traditional red poncho and bead necklace, at the sacred pre-Inca ruins of Tiwanaku high in Bolivia's Andean plateau.

"There's a plan against Bolivia, and the U.S. ambassador in Bolivia is the head of this plan," he said during his weekly Venezuelan television show, broadcast from Tiwanaku in front of an audience of Bolivian indigenous leaders.
[...]
Morales, who sat alongside Chavez in a matching poncho, has also made vague accusations of conspiracies against his government since taking office in January, though he has blamed foreign companies opposed to his nationalization drive.

Morales nationalized the impoverished country's energy industry on May 1. Chavez signed deals to invest about $1.5 billion in the natural gas-dominated sector on Friday, as well as a package of financing accords aimed at creating jobs.
[...]
Bush said last week he was concerned about "the erosion of democracy" in Venezuela and Bolivia. The White House has accused Chavez of being uncooperative in fighting terrorism and of promoting instability in the region.

"Gringo go home," Chavez, a former paratrooper, said during Sunday's broadcast, which he concluded by dancing to an Andean pan-pipe band.

He said the U.S. government was willing to pay soldiers to turn them against the Morales government.

"The gringos offer lots of money," he said. "There are soldiers who sell themselves to the
CIA ... and they're paid by Washington."

Chavez and Morales are close allies and, with Cuban President
Fidel Castro, have formed a leftist alliance that aims to counter what they call U.S. political and economic hegemony in Latin America.

Morales, elected on pledges to nationalize the country's energy industry, often makes anti-U.S. comments in his speeches. But his government has reiterated its commitment to work with the United States on issues such as fighting drugs.

Chavez, who is running for re-election in December and seeks greater regional integration, has used his country's oil riches to give neighbors cut-rate energy deals and buy their debt.