President Evo Morales has warned that sugar refineries that are "blackmailing" the Bolivian people by selling their product at elevated prices may be nationalized.

Morales said on Sunday, "If owners of sugar refineries continue selling their sugar more cheaply abroad and more dearly (domestically), I will see myself forced to nationalize ... those factories, without any fear."

La Paz, Dec 8 : Bolivian President Evo Morales has said that the overwhelming victory in Sunday's general elections is neither for him nor for his party, but for the people.

"The social forces were the ones that have decided to continue bringing forward the changes started in 2006," the president said Monday at the Quemado Palace.

He also recognised the unity pact with the Bolivian Workers' Union (COB), the National Coordinator for Change (CONALCAM), and the Confederation of Bartolina Sisa Farmer Women, among other entities that extended firm support to him during the elections.

Madrid  - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday defended his country's right to have relations with Iran as he was beginning his first visit to Spain as head of state.

"We have the right to have relations with everyone, without submission," Morales told an economic forum before meeting King Juan Carlos and visiting parliament later in the day.

He mentioned the examples of Iran, with which Bolivia has stepped up relations, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro,

La Paz - A former interior minister of the dictatorship that ruled Bolivia from 1980-81 arrived in the South American country Thursday to serve a 30-year prison sentence in La Paz, after being deported from the United States.

"We acknowledge the work of the United States justice system to deport Luis Arce Gomez," Bolivian President Evo Morales said. "It is a historic day for human rights and to reflect on dictatorships. Justice comes sooner or later."

La Paz  - Rufina Morales, a first cousin of Bolivian President Evo Morales, was murdered and mutilated in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, police said Wednesday.

The woman, 73, who had gone missing last week, was found dead by locals Tuesday in a ravine.

Police were working on the hypothesis that she had been attacked by robbers who then threw her body in the ravine, then dismembered by stray dogs. Only her head and her pelvis were found intact, while her heart and other internal organs were missing

La Paz  - Bolivia on Monday marked the 200th anniversary of the start of its war for independence from Spanish colonialism with two rival ceremonies.

Leftist President Evo Morales and his supporters gathered in the town of El Villar about 230 kilometres from a rival ceremony in the constitutional capital, Sucre, where the opponents of the first elected indigenous president held their own event.

On May 25, 1809, a revolt against the Spanish colonialist began in Sucre and became known as the call to freedom for Latin America. The country gained its independence in 1825.

Vienna - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday chewed a coca leaf at a United Nations drug conference in Vienna, underscoring his view that the plant should not be on the UN list of narcotic substances.

Morales was speaking at a conference of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is expected to adopt an action plan Thursday to tackle the global drug problem in the coming decade, against the backdrop of limited progress over the last 10 years.

Moscow - In the first visit ever by a Bolivian leader to Moscow, President Evo Morales on Monday secured agreements from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for investment in the gas sector and to help fight drug trafficking in Moscow.

Morales said he was seeking Russia's help in fighting drug cultivation. He said Bolivia, the third-largest producer of cocaine- making plants, was in need of Russian helicopters and other aircraft, since the United States stopped supporting efforts to eradicate illegal coca farming.

La Paz - A day after winning approval of a socialist constitution in a referendum, Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday reached out to his conservative opposition to create a "national pact" to implement the new document.

La Paz  - Bolivia broke diplomatic ties with Israel over the "disproportionate" attacks of the Israeli Army on the Gaza Strip, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday in La Paz.

Morales made the announcement as diplomats accredited in Bolivia greeted the president in accordance with protocol, Bolivian media reported.

He exhorted the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate the ongoing attacks in Gaza which have already over 1,000 lives.

La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales barred the US Drug Enforcement Adminstration from working in his country, accusing the agency of spying and providing financial support to Bolivia's conservative opposition.

The leftist Morales said Saturday on a visit to Chimore in Cochabamba department, an area where coca is grown, that it was a "personal decision" and he must defend Bolivia's sovereignty.

La Paz - Following a months-long political struggle, leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday obtained the necessary majority in Congress to call a referendum on a controversial proposal for a new constitution.

La Paz - Bolivia's government, led by leftist President Evo Morales, and the conservative opposition adjourned talks until Monday without breakthroughs on key issues in their dispute over autonomy and tax revenues that has led to deadly violence.

Working groups for both sides have been unable to agree on a formula on dividing up tax income from oil and gas between the federal government and states, the opposition's Mario Cossio, governor of the breakaway state of Tarija, said Thursday.

Santiago - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday in Santiago de Chile alleged that governors of restive regions attempted to topple his government.

He arrived Monday in the Chilean capital to attend a summit of South American presidents, who were expected to discuss the Bolivian crisis.

Morales said that the attempted coup d'etat included "occupation of institutions, looting and robbery from state institutions, attempts to attack the national police and the armed forces, and terrorist actions."

La Paz - Bolivia's President Evo Morales started talks with the opposition Sunday after days of violent clashes between government supporters and protestors in the country's energy-rich eastern provinces.

At the same time, Morales ordered the arrest of the governor of Pando region, Leopoldo Fernandez, a leading opposition member, saying he must be put away for 30 years.

La Paz - The government of Bolivian President Evo Morales on Sunday ordered the arrest of Leopoldo Fernandez, the influential opposition governor of Pando province, as a regional insurrection in the Amazonian province continued.

Fernandez has been charged with defying government-ordered martial law, said Juan Ramon Quintana, a minister in the office of the president.

In addition, the government accuses Fernandez of responsibility in a "massacre" of aboriginal farmers who were killed on their way to a demonstration.

The Bolivian government confirmed Sunday at least 16 deaths from a regional insurrection in Pando.

La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered the US ambassador out of the country, accusing the diplomat of supporting the opposition as Morales faces escalating anti-government protests.

"I declare the ambassador of the United States persona non grata," Morales said Wednesday on Bolivian television.

He accused Ambassador Philip Goldberg of supporting the opposition and their separatist aims. Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca was dispatched to advise Goldberg to leave the country at once, Morales said.

La Paz - Left-wing nationalist President Evo Morales was rebuffed Monday by the central election commission, which rejected his application for a controversial constitutional referendum on December 7.

The panel said it would not organize the vote.

The election commission president Jose Luis Exeni ruled that the parliament had to approve such referendum, as well as a second referendum about provincial powers that Moralese wants.

Morales had issued a decree last week that ordered the referendums to be held.

Tehran - Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Tehran Monday for a two-day official visit, in which is to meet Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The two leaders are to discuss bilateral and international issues and follow up agreements reached during their last year's meeting in La Paz. (dpa)

La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales Thursday set the date for a national referendum on a controversial new constitution, which threatens to further split the country.

Morales will seek approval for the new constitution, a key element of his reform agenda, on December 7. An election of prefects for the regions of La Paz and Cochabamba as well as local representatives was scheduled for the same day.