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Peruvian, Bolivian leaders trade barbs

Bolivian President Evo Morales, right, fights for the ball with an unidentified Argentine player during a friendly soccer match after attending the plenary session of the 35th Mercosur summit in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

Peruvian President Alan Garcia said on Tuesday that he’s sick of Bolivian President Evo Morales criticizing Peru’s trade pact with the US, spreading false rumors about US military bases and urging Peruvians to protest in the street.

Things really got unneighborly when Morales called Garcia “fat.” Garcia said he is tempted to borrow the words Spanish King Juan Carlos tossed at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last year: “Why don’t you shut up?”

“Stick to your own country and don’t meddle in mine,” Garcia said, referring to Morales.

Morales quickly fired back from Argentina, where he was attending a summit of the Mercosur trade bloc.

“Any president who tells someone to shut up is an antidemocratic president,” Morales said. “The arrogance of kings is a vice that shouldn’t be copied.”

Peru’s ambassador to Bolivia was called back to Lima two days ago to discuss bilateral relations after Morales said on Saturday that the US was “bringing its military bases” to Peru.

Bolivia also has opposed Peru’s strengthening of intellectual property laws, a requirement of the US trade deal.

Morales — a strong Chavez ally — allegedly encouraged Peruvians to join a national strike next Wednesday. And he did say last month that Garcia, who has moved from left to center and gained a few pounds during his second term as president, looks “fat and not very anti-imperialist” lately.

Bolivia’s vice foreign minister said Morales didn’t mean to meddle with Peru’s internal affairs, and that Bolivia takes Peru’s concerns “very seriously.”

Meanwhile, the US State Department said there are no plans to establish a military base in Peru, where the US Army works on infrastructure and humanitarian projects.

The spat between Morales and Garcia highlights an ideological fault line in South America between US allies and Washington critics.

Like Venezuela and Bolivia, Ecuador leans to the left, particularly on trade, and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has opposed renewing a lease that allows US troops to use the Manta air base for anti-drug operations. The lease on the base in Ecuador runs out next year.
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