27 Jul 2011

UN / EVO MORALES

Bolivian President Evo Morales said today that those who head the social struggle for vindication are called terrorists. “I have been accused of being the Andean bin Laden in Bolivia. Lately it’s no longer communist or terrorist but drug trafficker.” UNTV

Posted at: July 27, 2011 2:35 pm

Duration: 02:06

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: UN / EVO MORALES
TRT: 2.06
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 27 JULY 2011, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

27 JULY 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2.Wide shot, Morales at the dais
3.Med shot, audience
4.SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia:
"Water is life, water is the planet itself and therefore water is humanity. Happily, and we see this with much satisfaction, we have this decision by the United Nations. Now we have the huge responsibility of implementing in the different States, Nations, Countries, that water becomes truly a public service and not a private business."	
5.Wide shot, over the shoulder view of the audience
6.SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia:
"Those of us who head the social struggle for vindication are called terrorists. I have been accused of being the Andean Bin Laden in Bolivia. Lately it's no longer communist or terrorist, but drug trafficker. It was within that context that we received information about false accusations that the presidential airplane had been detained for traces of cocaine. It is a lie."
7.Med shot, photographers
8.SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia:
"I am very afraid of the United States Government because I know their political operators. They always use drug trafficking with geopolitical interests. The American DEA did not combat drug trafficking. They used drug trafficking for political ends."	
9.Med shot, Bolivian military officer
10.	SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia:
"Do you think Obama would accept a contribution of the Bolivian Government for the Republican Party? That is what the United States does in Bolivia. We do not accept this. In is a political interference. It is a lack of respect for the Bolivian people and its Government."	
11.	Wide shot, audience
12.	Med shot, Morales exiting the dais

STORYLINE:

Bolivian President Evo Morales offered a press conference today (17 July) at the United Nations before his intervention at the General Assembly (GA) debate on water as a human right.

Morales said that "water is life, water is the planet itself and therefore water is humanity" and expressed "much satisfaction" over last year's GA resolution acknowledging the right to water.

He added that "now we have the huge responsibility of implementing in the different States, Nations, Countries, that water becomes truly a public service and not a private business."

122 countries voted for the right to water resolution in July 2010. A later Human Rights Council resolution recognized the right to water and sanitation as a part of the right to an adequate standard of living.

Responding to reports that his official airplane had been detained upon arrival to the United States, the Bolivian leader said that he has been called many things in the past, including "communist or terrorist" and now he is being accused of being a drug trafficker.

He said that "it was within that context that we received information about false accusations that the presidential airplane had been detained for traces of cocaine. It is a lie."

Morales told journalists that he was "very afraid of the United States Government" and accused Washington of using drug trafficking for "geopolitical interests."  He said that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) "did not combat drug trafficking" but instead "used drug trafficking for political ends."

He also accused the Barack Obama administration of channelling funds for the opposition parties in Bolivia. He asked whether the US President "would accept a contribution of the Bolivian Government for the Republican party" and said that "that is what the United States does in Bolivia."

He added that this acts constituted "a political interference" and "a lack of respect for the Bolivian people and its Government."