Bolivia threatens not to pay for Spanish power firm

Bolivia's President Evo Morales nationalized a Spanish-owned electric power company Tuesday and ordered the military to take it over.Morales said he had issued a decree nationalizing Transportadora de Electricidad SA, which according to its websites owns 73 percent of the countries electric transmission lines.He also ordered the military to "undertake the corresponding takeovers of the facilities and administration of the Transportadora de Electricidad."

Bolivian President Evo Morales expropriated Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica's assets in Bolivia and ordered the country's armed forces to take over the company's facilities, Spain's state-owned news agency EFE reported.

Bolivian President Evo Morales expropriated Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica Corp.'s assets in Bolivia and ordered the country's armed forces to take over the company's facilities, Spain's state-owned news agency EFE reported.

Bolivian President Evo Morales defended an 83-percent hike on gasoline prices, saying previous subsidies were a "drain on the economy" after bus drivers announced an open-ended strike.Vice President Alvaro Garcia decreed the price increases -- which also involve a 73-percent hike in diesel prices -- on Sunday by removing subsidies that cost about 380 million dollars per year to keep fuel prices artificially low for more than a decade.It was the sharpest price increase since 1991, when prices went up 35 percent, and follows six years of stable prices.

Bolivia on Wednesday formally recognized Palestine as an independent state, following the lead of its neighbors Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earlier this month.President Evo Morales told reporters that he made Bolivia's recognition official Wednesday in a letter to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.Morales said at a press conference that he recognized Palestine as "an independent and sovereign state... as have other countries like Brazil."Bolivia broke off relations with Israel in January 2009, after a heavy Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday he would like Finland to provide his country with "clean technology," and in exchange Bolivia would send organic products to the Nordic country."We could protect our Mother Earth together," Morales told reporters in Helsinki during the first official visit by a Bolivian president to Finland."Finland could provide Bolivia with clean technology, while Bolivia could supply organic products to Finland," he said through a translator, without specifying the technology he had in mind.

Bolivian President Evo Morales defended an 83-percent hike on gasoline prices, saying previous subsidies were a "drain on the economy" after bus drivers announced an open-ended strike.Vice President Alvaro Garcia decreed the price increases -- which also involve a 73-percent hike in diesel prices -- on Sunday by removing subsidies that cost about 380 million dollars per year to keep fuel prices artificially low for more than a decade.It was the sharpest price increase since 1991, when prices went up 35 percent, and follows six years of stable prices.