Bolivian president thanks Chirac for support for gas nationalization

Bolivian President Evo Morales thanked his French counterpart Jacques Chirac on Monday for his support for Bolivia's nationalization of fossil fuel resources, and invited him to visit the opening of the Constituent Assembly, reports reaching here said.

During a visit to Chile on Friday, Chirac expressed his support for the nationalization, saying he had a lot of respect for Morales, who "had restored honor to a people which had been deprived of it for centuries."

The French president added that if he were invited, he would attend the opening of the Assembly on Aug. 6 in Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital.

Morales said this is the reason why he made a public invitation to Chirac.

He said he had also invited leaders from Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, because "we are betting on a deep change in the democracy, that is to say a change for the peaceful path."

The Constituent Assembly is one of Morales's key election promises. Bolivians will choose the members of the Assembly on July 2.