Latter-Day Bourbons in Bolivia

It was said that after their return to power in France in 1815, that the Bourbon dynasty monarchs and their aristocracy had "learned nothing, and forgotten nothing"--learned nothing about governance, legitimacy, or the public welfare; and forgotten none of the insults and injuries visited upon them during the First Republic and Napoleon's Empire.

Now it looks as though Bolivia's president Evo Morales is today's equivalent of the Bourbon King Louis XVIII. Decoupling Bolivia from the world economy will be costly and painful. Having your major extractive industries run by political hacks will be very destructive. And doing so in a way that will maximize the alienation of Brazil and Spain is just plain stupid.

And what kind of person thinks engineers come in battalions?

FT.com / Americas / Latin America - Bolivia set to seize foreign-run gas fields: By Hal Weitzman in Lima: Bolivia ordered its military to seize natural gas fields controlled by foreign investors as the 100-day-old government of Evo Morales signalled it was putting into effect a campaign pledge to nationalise the sector. Bolivia’s gas industry is dominated by international energy companies... Brazil’s Petrobras, Repsol of Spain, Total of France, and BG and BP of the UK, and the decree is the latest sign of a hardening approach to foreign investors.... “We want to ask [the armed forces] that, starting now, they occupy all the energy fields in Bolivia along with battalions of engineers,” Mr Morales said after signing an official nationalisation decree in a ceremony at a gas field in south-eastern Bolivia operated by Petrobras.

The document stated that “the state recovers ownership, possession, and total and absolute control of these resources”. Bolivia has the second-biggest reserves of natural gas in Latin America.... The intervention will heighten investors’ concerns about the investment climate in the energy sector generally, and Mr Morales’ willingness to pursue a leftwing agenda in particular....

Álvaro García, Bolivia’s vice-president, said officials from YPFB, the state energy company, and the military had begun to take control of 53 installations. YPFB and the state, he added, would assume responsibility for production, sales and pricing. Congress last year passed a law that obliges foreign energy companies to hand over 50 per cent of their revenues in taxes and royalities. But Mr Garcia indicated that at the two largest gas fields, San Alberto and Sabalo, the split would now be 82-18 in the state’s favour....

Last month Mr Morales expelled EBX, a Brazilian steelmaker, for allegedly breaking environmental law. Repsol’s chief executives were imprisoned in March on oil-smuggling charges...

This looks bad.