BOLIVIA DENOUNCES U.S. ENVOY'S COMMENTS

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Controversy erupted in this country's presidential
campaign Friday when the bureau that regulates elections denounced the U.S.
ambassador for speaking out against an obscure candidate who has demanded
that farmers be allowed to grow coca.

Bolivia has become a key ally in the U.S.-led war against drugs,
eradicating in the past few years about 85 percent of the country's coca
plants. But the eradication drive has been violently resisted by
coca-growing farmers led by Evo Morales, a minor presidential candidate.
Although Morales is running third or fourth in pre-election polls, he may
win enough congressional seats in Sunday's election to stall the drug war,
some political observers say.

The election-eve controversy was ignited by U.S. Ambassador Manuel Rocha,
who warned Bolivians in a speech that voting for a candidate who defends
the production of coca crops could threaten U.S. aid to Bolivia, one of the
poorest countries in Latin America.

Although Rocha gave no names, the National Election Board was quick to go
public with its objections.

The board, a spokesman said, "found the public declarations inappropriate.
They raise social tensions on the eve of elections."

For many Bolivians, the ambassador's speech was a clear allusion to
Morales, who makes a point of chewing coca at campaign rallies. Morales,
who leads the Indian-based Movement to Socialism Party, said Friday that
the ambassador's speech gave him a "torrent of anti-imperialist votes."

Rocha's comments surprised some diplomats, given Latin America's
decades-old sensitivity to any sign of being bullied by Washington.

"I think it's very unfortunate and it will have the opposite effect to what
the ambassador wanted," said one diplomat quoted by Reuters. "The message
could have been passed on with much more subtlety. The ambassador's days
are numbered."

Another diplomat said, "It was like the beginning of the return to the
1980s, to the days of (former President) Reagan when the United States was
seen in the region as an arrogant enemy."

Bolivia has been a showcase of U.S.-encouraged market reform and privatization.

But Sunday's closely contested election could see the rise of populist
leaders who say these policies have done little for Bolivia, where an
estimated 70 percent live in poverty.

Morales complains that the five-year U.S.-backed eradication campaign
deprives small farmers of their livelihoods and has cost Bolivia an
estimated $500 million a year in hard currency income.

In defiance of the United States, the leading presidential candidate,
Manfred Reyes Villa, said he may make an alliance with the coca leader
after the election.

"Why did he say this? It was because past governments have made us
submissive. We are a dependent country, that's clear," said Reyes Villa, a
retired army officer.

Reyes Villa drew a distinction between growing coca, which some Indians use
for medicine, and producing cocaine.