Bolivia's Leftwing Upstart Alarms Us

The United States government is actively intervening in Bolivia's choice of new president next month, warning that US aid will be withdrawn if the socialist Evo Morales is appointed.

It is the latest in a series of recent interventions by the US in Latin American elections in an attempt to keep leftwing politicians from power.

Congress will elect the president from the two leading candidates in the elections of two weeks ago: Mr Morales and the rightwing ex-president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

Otto Reich, the Cuban-American appointed by President George Bush as his assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, warned that American aid to the country would be in danger if Mr Morales was chosen on August 3.

Mr Morales is leader of the country's coca-growers and is opposed to the coca eradication programme sponsored by the US as part of the "war on drugs" on the continent.

"We do not believe we could have normal relations with someone who espouses these kinds of policies," Mr Reich said on a visit to Buenos Aires.

The US ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, had already issued a similar warning, suggesting that if Mr Morales was elected US aid would be cut off.

"The Bolivian electorate must consider the consequences of choosing leaders somehow connected with drug trafficking and terrorism," said Mr Rocha in a speech last month. "I want to remind the Bolivian electorate that if they vote for those who want Bolivia to return to exporting cocaine, that will seriously jeopardise any future aid to Bolivia from the United States."

But the comments appeared to infuriate Bolivians and enhanced the popularity of Mr Morales who called the ambassador his "best campaign chief".

Mr Reich's intervention is the latest in a series of moves to influence politics in the region. He has been criticised for the way the US administration was seen as giving the green light to the military coup in Venezuela in April which would have removed the leftwing president, Hugo Chavez. Mr Chavez was returned to power after 48 hours but is still thought to be at risk from another possible coup attempt.

Last year, the US intervened in the Nicaraguan elections, warning that if the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, won, there would be disastrous financial consequences for the country. A US state department official, Lino Gutierrez, visited the country to urge the conservative parties running against Mr Ortega to bury their differences to defeat him. Mr Ortega lost the election heavily although the US intervention was far from the decisive factor.

Mr Reich is a controversial figure in Latin-American politics. Under Ronald Reagan, he was the head of the office of public diplomacy at the state department and used his position to promote the cause of the "contras" in their war against the Sandinistas.

In an investigation in 1987 by the comptroller-general of the US he was found to have abused his office which had been engaged in "prohibited, covert propaganda activities... beyond the range of acceptable public information activities".

He was appointed to his current post despite strong opposition from Democrats on the foreign relations committee.