Morales announces expulsion of USAID

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.noticias24.com/internacionales/noticia/59054/evo-morales-expulsa-a-la-organizacion-estadounidense-usaid-de-bolivia/

been in Bolivia since 1964. I think it was a Kennedy program. Anyway, crybaby said it was in response to Kerry´s comments that latin america was our backyard.

[bemildred]

1. Well, see, that's the trouble with suborning NGOs for political purposes.

And that is an unfortunate and long-standing habit of our "expediency rules the day" State Dept.

[naaman fletcher]

2. Yup

I've met a lot of good USAID people doing great work. You average USAID worker is well intentioned and trying to help.

But, the CIA plants people in USAID and uses them as cover.

The poor of the world suffer as a result. I don't blame Morales for this at all. In fact, I would do the same thing if I were him.

[bemildred]

3. Everybody is allowed to protect themselves, even Commies and Liberals.

It's not so much the working to promote US interests that bothers me, that's their job, it's the methods they use. If your goals are not compatible with your methods, guess which one is going to govern how things come out? I mean we are to the point now where the President is having to talk about it in public, lecturing the Congress on the fact that Gitmo is really just not the sort of thing we are supposed to be doing.

I have noticed a growing trend to use "NGOs" in this way, since Bush The Lesser came in, and it's being copied by our competitors and used against us now. Gee, who could have predicted that? If you want to get snotty about other peoples morals, you better keep your own nose clean.

[Bacchus4.0]

5. Morales is within his rights to expel USAID, its his reasoning I find lame

I would be even more happy to see the US military leave countries around the world. Not because they are bad people but because the US doesn´t need to be present in a sovereign nation.

[bemildred]

6. I'm cool with that. And you don't have to like him.

All political argument tends to be babble in the age of Television anyway, like with the commercials they don't want to make you think, you might start thinking your own thoughts, so they try to appeal to your feelings instead.

I quite agree about the snarky tit-for-tat nature of how "diplomacy" is conducted, but civility is a two-way street or it is nothing at all.

And Uncle Sugar is the Big Boy in the room, it is we - the self-appointed bigshot moralists who want to lecture the world - who have the first responsibility to conduct ourselves well, to set the tone, and that we have not done so well at all. So I will be more than happy to help you savage Evo or whomever for immature behavior once I see our own State Dept. start to act like grownups too. Until then, all I see is people who like to dish it out, but don't like to take it.

[ocpagu]

4. Good for Evo.

About time!

[Benton D Struckcheon]

7. Posting USAID official statement on this

http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/usaid-bolivia

The reason given for expelling them is remarkable for its bottomless stupidity. Stunning, actually. This guy is, bluntly, a drooling moron.
As to whether USAID is used by the CIA, well, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. The whole point of these programs is to spread US influence. Morales knew that all along; if he really objected to them, why did he sign a new agreement with them in Nov of 2011?
I'm going to guess: election coming? Has to be, I can't think of another reason to make yourself look so idiotic.
If there isn't one coming, well, that just makes this even more dumb. A place as poor as Bolivia should take help wherever it can get it, firstly, and secondly, if he really wants some support for Bolivia's push to get a sea outlet from Chile, this is not the way to go about it.
Foreign policy is about pushing your interests, not about making buffoonish displays of idiocy like this that do nothing to advance your country's agenda.

[Bacchus4.0]

8. agreed, however if they don´t want the aid then so be it and the US can make better

use of that money elsewhere, including back home.

[ocpagu]

9. Wow. Could you be more arrogant?

If you're aware that "USAID is used by the CIA", and that "the whole point of these programs is to spread US influence", and yet you simply don't care about that, I'm not sure that Evo is the "bluntly, drooling moron" here.

This is not the first time USAID is expelled from a country, this is not the first time that US "aid" is rejected by countries. There is a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with Evo's idiosyncrasies, whatever they are.

If USAID was in fact an "aid" agency and not a puppet from CIA, its reputation probably wouldn't be in shambles almost everywhere in the planet.

[Bacchus4.0]

11. USAID is active in Brazil

so I guess its reputation is OK with the Brazilian government.

However, one thing to note is that, ostensibly, a goal of USAID would be to leave a country once the country has reached development goals. I would say Brazil is at the point where development funding should come internally. Other countries, the same holds true. There are political motivations for keeping a US presence in countries that frankly should not be receiving US development assistance.

[ocpagu]

13. Well...

... I don't agree with everything my government does. And Brazil is pretty different from Bolivia, as it can handle interventionist policies in more effective ways. Though Brazil has a friendly diplomacy toward the US, it is independent enough to refuse "cooperation" when it feels those actions are not in its best interests. Brazil has rejected money from USAID, also:

"Brazil has become the first country to reject AIDS funding from the U.S., citing its unwillingness to play by Washington's ideological rules."

http://www.alternet.org/story/21965/brazil_to_u.s.%3A_keep_your_money

The difference is that US generally does not keep pushing into Brazilian domestic affairs once Brazil says "stop". The US should have more respect for the Bolivian government.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

12. I could be a lot more arrogant,

considering he blasted an aid program his country desperately needs.
But I'd rather be the nice guy I am.
And your hero, again, SIGNED AN AGREEMENT JUST A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, with USAID, which he then proceeded to stomp on.
So yeah, I could be a lot more arrogant when dealing with a dumbass who manifestly doesn't give a damn about his own people.

[bemildred]

10. U.S. Military

Effectively addressing the complex challenges of fragile states throughout the world requires a coordinated U.S. government approach, particularly in conflict situations, to ensure that diplomatic, development, and defense efforts are mutually reinforcing.

USAID integrates its capabilities with those from the departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Justice, and others. The issuance of the Quadrennial Development and Diplomacy Review and the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development underscore the need for interagency coordination and the importance of international development and poverty alleviation as a pillar of national security.
Unified Framework

The eventual goal of civilian-military cooperation is the creation and adoption of a unified framework for planning, implementing and assessing US activities in embassies and missions throughout the world.

Although the development, diplomacy and defense functions are all structurally different, they are all necessary components of an effective whole-of-government approach to stability and prosperity.

USAID seeks to work with the Departments of Defense and State as strategic partners in the design and implementation of field activities. USAID’s intention is to work with the US interagency community in developing and actively pursuing implementation of a planning, training and operational framework, linked to budgets, that integrates the soft power activities of Defense, State and Development at the national, regional, and country level.

This cooperation has been improving and there are now multiple examples of programming and projects that have been planned, implemented, and evaluated by interagency teams.

http://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/partnership-opportunities/us-military

That's why.