
The Bolivian government has increased its military budget by more than 120% during the last decade, increasing 64% during President Evo Morales five years in office, according to a report compiled by Bolivian journalist, Ruy D’Alencar Delgado, published in El Deber newspaper.

Coca Brynco was launched in Bolivia earlier this week. It is the first mass produced soft drink of its kind and the project is supported by the government of President Evo Morales.

President Evo Morales’ government has offered to reimburse 100% of the cost of successful exploratory drilling in Bolivia by private oil and natural gas companies, state-owned energy company YPFB announced this week.

Bolivia plans to invest 1.73 billion US dollars in the energy industry in 2011, focusing on gas to ensure adequate production to supply Argentina and Brazil, as well as the domestic market, the head of state-owned oil company YPFB, Carlos Villegas, said.

Bolivia formally recognized Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the 1967 borders, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced Wednesday. Reports last week indicated that such a decision was imminent

President Evo Morales announced on Friday that Bolivia would recognize Palestine as an independent sovereign state. The Bolivian leader made the statement during the Mercosur summit in Brazil.

The Bolivian Space Agency (ABE) and the Chinese Great Wall Industry Corporation signed a commercial contract for the construction and launching of the first Bolivian telecommunications satellite, which has been baptized Tupac Katari.

Chile is willing to cooperate with a sea-outlet for landlocked Bolivia but will not cede sovereignty because “we will never accept something that divides the country in two”, said the Chilean Foreign Affairs minister Alfredo Moreno.

Bolivian President Evo Morales delivered a blunt reply on Monday to visiting US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates's warning about dealings with Iran, saying Bolivia will ally with whomever it wants.

According to a recent audit commissioned by the Bolivian government and conducted by US-based consulting firm Ryder Scott allegedly shows that the country has only 8.3 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, sharply lower than the range of 12.8 trillion to 26.7 trillion that has appeared in contradictory official versions.