Bolivia & Peru Open ‘Binational Cabinet’ With Social Movements
Bolivia’s President Luis Arce has announced that a ‘Binational Cabinet’ will be installed with Peru to deal with matters of importance to both countries and where social movements will participate.
President Arce attended the inauguration of Pedro Castillo and held a meeting with the new Head of State afterwards. Coming out of the meeting Arce stated, “In a meeting with our brother President Pedro Castillo, we have decided to reinstate the Binational Cabinet between Bolivia and #Peru, together with the social movements of both countries, as soon as possible. This time we will be the hosts.”
“There are many issues that we must address, such as energy, trade and the inter-oceanic train. The new Binational Cabinet will mark the beginning of a cycle of mutually beneficial meetings between the two peoples. Long live the Patria Grande!” President Arce added.
The Binational Cabinet began under Evo Morales where the project for the inter-oceanic train was launched, the project is especially important for Bolivia because it consists of a single train line from the Peruvian coast that will run through Bolivia’s three major cities (La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz), thereby giving Bolivia direct access to the sea which the country currently doesn’t have. However, it was originally conceived with the idea of running through to Brazil’s Atlantic coast. Bolsonaro pulled out and the plan was ultimately scrapped by the coup regime who cut funding to almost all state infrastructure projects.
The Binational Cabinet will also be bolstered by a greater ideological affinity between the governments of Luis Arce and Pedro Castillo.
Evo Morales was also in Peru for the ceremony and held meetings with Castillo and with Peru Libre congressman Guillermo Bermejo, to discuss the issue of coca and the need to expel the U.S. military presence which seeks to eradicate the ancestral crop. Evo also met with the leader of Peru Libre, Vladimir Cerron, to discuss the ‘programmatic integration’ between the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) and Peru Libre.
