A Changed World?

In 2006, Bolivia broke with the International Monetary Fund and signaled its desire for independence. Now this week the Andean nation becomes the first country ever to withdraw from the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, a World Bank body that referees contract disagreements between foreign investors and host countries.

Newfound revenue and a changing political environment have buoyed Bolivia's confidence. The Andean nation believes it now has new tools at its disposal to establish itself as a trustworthy nation

The political change that made renegotiation possible -- the election of President Evo Morales -- also spurred the severing of ties with the IMF and the ICSID. Morales came to office believing he had been given a mandate to reverse a long-running experiment with market-friendly reforms that were meant to counter the foreign debt crisis and triple-digit inflation of the 1980s.

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