Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced the first steps towards building the first nuclear reactor in the country during his annual state of the union address to the Bolivian Congress. Morales stressed that the nuclear program will be developed for peaceful purposes with the help of France, Iran and Argentina.

Evo Morales called the nuclear development project a priority for Bolivia and stressed that the South American country “will not remain excluded from this technology, which belongs to all humankind.”

If Bolivia follows through on its claims, it will join the ranks of only three other Latin American nations with functioning nuclear programs. Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have had nuclear programs for peaceful purposes ever since the Treaty of Tlateloco in 1967 established a nuclear-weapon-free zone across Latin America.

Bolivia stated that Iran, France and Argentina had agreed to aid the country in its efforts to establish a nuclear weapons program.

Evo Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia and is known as a bombastic critic of the United States and its policies throughout Latin America. He expelled the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 2011 and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2013 as an effort to reduce subversive US influence in the country.

Earlier this year, Bolivia became one of the last states in South America to have its own telecommunications satellite when China stepped in to help with the launch of the satellite, named after Tupak Katari, an indigenous folk hero who fought against Spanish colonialism.

The telecommunications satellite will help reduce the cost of communications and improve access to the Internet for many Bolivians living in rural areas. The move is also a further step towards increased independence from the West that President Morales would like to see more of.

In spite of these campaigns, Bolivia is expected to continue on a path of energy diversification by investing in explorations for oil and uranium reserves in Potosí.

– Jeff Meyer

Sources: BBC, Latin Post, BBC, UPI
Photo: Polygrafi