Bolivia nationalizes Spanish-owned power company

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales nationalized a Spanish-owned electric power company Tuesday and ordered the military to take it over.

Morales said he had issued a decree nationalizing Transportadora de Electricidad SA, which according to its websites owns 73 percent of the countries electric transmission lines.

He also ordered the military to “undertake the corresponding takeovers of the facilities and administration of the Transportadora de Electricidad.”

The move in Bolivia follows Argentina’s nationalization of a Spanish-owned oil company, RPF-Repsol, which has soured Buenos Aires’ relations with Spain and drawn sharp criticism from the European Union.

TDE was created in 1997 during a period that saw a wave of privatizations of state industries in Latin America by governments pursing liberal economic reforms.

Red Electrica Internacional, a subsidiary of Grupo Red Electrica de Espana, owns 99.94 percent of the company, with the remaining sliver owned by company workers, according to the website http://www.tde.com.bo.

Morales, a leftist, took the measure amid rising labor unrest by unions demanding higher pay.

Since coming to power in January 2006, he has used the annual May Day holiday to announce nationalizations of the country’s oil wealth, electric power companies and smelters.