Ministry appoints new deputy

Bolivia's mining and hydrocarbons minister Alvaro Rios has appointed Mauricio Galleguillos as hydrocarbons deputy minister, replacing Mario Requena, the government news agency reported. Galleguillos previously worked as a tax consultant at Ernst and Young in Bolivia's hydrocarbons area, and he has also worked with Arthur Andersen in Argentina and Mexico. His experience with taxes is a sign that Rios aims to make "interesting changes" to modify the tax law with regards to hydrocarbons investments, a ministry spokesperson told BNamericas. "The President [Carlos Mesa] himself has said that the hydrocarbons tax law will change, but it will be a balanced change with the consensus of everyone, including the private oil companies. It won't be an arbitrary change," the spokesperson said. Rios called on Galleguillos to help him with the "difficult tasks" of modifying the hydrocarbons law and holding a referendum about the proposed gas export project. Requena's public comments about his preference for using a Chilean port to export gas, even though it is the cheaper option, could have cost him his job due to strong public opposition to the project, local papers reported. However, the ministry spokesperson said that Requena's resignation has nothing to do with the gas project, and is the normal procedure when a President, in this case Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, resigns. Most of Bolivia's cabinet ministers quit following Sanchez de Lozada's resignation and are gradually being replaced by President Mesa, the spokesperson added.