Bolivia, the Switzerland of South America?

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Bolivian President Evo Morales has experts shaking their heads about his bold prediction that Bolivia, generally regarded as South America’s poorest nation, ``could become Switzerland in the next, 10, 15, 20 years.’’

The Daily La Razón promptly ran a chart illustrating some of the differences, like Switzerland’s almost $400 billion GNP, beside Bolivia’s $11 billion, and Switzerland’s top-10 rank in per capita income beside Bolivia’s ranking of 115.

Bolivia does have some advantages: it’s more than 20 times larger than Switzerland and has vast deposits of natural gas and other resources.

The two disparate nations share a landlocked status. But Morales hopes to work out a deal with long-time nemesis Chile for a sea corridor, possibly in exchange for gas sales. But the sea-lane-for-gas notion remains in the realm of the theory.

``The president must have a magic formula,’’ concluded Napoleon Pacheco, an economist.

Others gave the president credit for thinking big. ``If we accept the challenge, it’s very interesting, said Gonzalo Chavez, another economist. ``Very positive.’’

Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires