Congress ratifies hydrocarbons bill

Bolivia's congress approved for the second time the controversial hydrocarbons bill on Tuesday afternoon, bringing the legislation onto the statute books, local press reported. President Carlos Mesa decided neither to ratify nor reject the bill, which had been previously approved by parliament. Instead he passed on the responsibility to the president of the country's congress, Hormando Vaca Díez, who signed the bill on Tuesday around 5pm. "My responsibility as president is to carry out this law, complete with the the conflicts, difficulties and problems that may come, and hopefully also with the benefits that may arise," ABI government news service quoted Mesa as saying. "Finally we have completed a stage. We have turned the page. After a long road, we have closed the page on the hydrocarbons bill and we will begin to work on issues that are important to the country," he continued. "It is a law that was drawn up by parliament. It is a law that is in line with the thinking of those in parliament and was also approved by parliament before it was sent to the president," he said. With the passing of the bill, the controversial royalty-tax article has been fixed at an 18% royalty and 32% tax on hydrocarbons production. However, the opposition socialist movement party MAS is planning to present a bill to congress that would aim to modify five points of the recently passed law, including fixing royalty payments at 50%, newspaper La Razón reported. The issue of hydrocarbons production and exports has caused civil strife in Bolivia, a country rich in gas reserves, for the last few years, which led to the ousting of Mesa's predecessor Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in October 2003. Many in Bolivia want the whole oil and gas industry nationalized.