Bolivian President-elect starts tour

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, fresh from meetings with Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, arrived in Spain today on the first visit of a three-country European tour with the nationalisation of Bolivia’s oil and natural gas high on the agenda.

Morales next stops in Europe will be France and Belgium.

At the weekend he will travel to South Africa, China and Brazil as part of a world tour in efforts to drum up support for his incoming government – the first headed by an Indian in Bolivia’s 180-year history – and also to show he can hold his own on the world stage