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 SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - In fits and starts, Bolivian President Evo Morales is moving his country closer to "nationalizing" South America's second-largest natural gas reserves and reviving a state-owned petroleum company that now amounts to little more than a collection of bureaucrats and decrepit gas stations.
The latest rhetoric from Bolivia's new leadership seems ominous for the foreign energy companies faced with the prospect of renegotiating their contracts to extract and export Bolivia's gas.
"Some multinationals already have conspiracies," Morales said Monday in one of his harshest speeches since taking office two weeks ago. He said Bolivia's military leaders are preparing a response, and he pledged to bring government control over all levels of oil and gas exploitation.
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