Ex Bolivian leader in treason charge over missiles

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Mar 10 (Reuters) Bolivia's last president has been charged with treason for sending the South American country's only missiles to be destroyed in the United States, the attorney general said.

Current Bolivian President Evo Morales, a leftist who regularly criticises US foreign policy, denounced the destruction of the 30 Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles at the height of campaigning for the December presidential election he went on to win.

It was Morales who initiated the legal complaint against his predecessor, former interim President Eduardo Rodriguez, who faces charges along with two top officials from the military and defense ministry.

Attorney General Pedro Gareca said the main offenses were spying, falsifying documents and subjecting the country to foreign control.

''All of this is treason against the nation, undoubtedly,'' Gareca said while announcing the formal charges.

The jail term for treason in Bolivia is 30 years, but several more legal stages must be passed before Rodriguez can be put on trial.

There was no immediate reaction from the government or Rodriguez, who has said in the past he was misled by military officials over the operation to destroy the weapons.

Rodriguez has said that while the aging missiles needed to be destroyed, he did not authorize their being sent in October to the United States -- which sparked outrage in Bolivia where anti-American feeling is strong.

Local media have linked the missiles saga with the latest in a string of spats between the new government and the United States, which is wary of Morales's leftist ideology and his policy to defend the cultivation of coca.

Earlier this week, Morales accused Washington of ''blackmail, threats and intimidation'' for withdrawing funding from a joint anti-terrorism unit because it was unhappy with the commander chosen to head it.

Newspaper reports, citing military sources, said the anti-terrorism unit's commander had told Morales about the program to destroy the missiles.

Asked by journalists if the reports were correct, Morales said on Wednesday: ''There are many patriotic military men who revealed this matter. They informed to defend their country.'' The US Embassy in La Paz has said the United States complied with a Bolivian government request to help it dispose of obsolete military equipment. It also denied seeking ''to impose the naming of candidates to positions of leadership on the Bolivian government.'' REUTERS AD PM0838