Bolivian president requests UN aid in exchange for tough line on corruptio

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In exchange for "immediate cooperation" from the United Nations, President Carlos Mesa pledged on 24 October to manage his administration with transparency, deliver on an institutionality plan - which will include Congress, wage a front-on struggle against corruption and deliver a package of laws to that end.

This explicit pledge was made at the government palace in the presence of dozens of UN delegates represented in Bolivia by resident adviser Carlos Felipe Martinez, as well as ambassadors who had gathered to mark the UN's anniversary. The government's request is the second the executive has made of the international community in one week.

On 21 October, Foreign Minister Siles requested - in the presence of the diplomatic corps accredited in Bolivia - "immediate disbursements" for the Bolivian state. On 25 October, President Mesa stressed the need for multilateralism and respect for the state of law, and he admitted that the country has not made sufficient progress in the sphere of institutionality; in other words, "special favours" and "quotas" are still alive.

He said that a full plan should include a review of the Legislative Branch's role in the institutional sphere. In the area of transparency, he said that corruption, as in other countries, has reached intolerable levels and that he intends to propose a package of laws and institutional reforms, because the "situation in Bolivia is particularly difficult".

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=85156