Bolivia's Morales proposes total change in relations with US, calls for 'mutual respect'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Bolivia's Morales proposes total change in relations with US, calls for 'mutual respect'
CARLOS VALDEZ | Associated Press Writer
3:21 PM EDT, May 21, 2009

http://snsimages.tribune.com.nyud.net:8090/media/photo/2009-05/47037212.jpg

Bolivia's Foreign Minister David Chequehuanca, left, shakes hands with
Thomas Shannon, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
affairs, during a meeting in La Paz, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Shannon is
on a two-day visit to Bolivia. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) (Juan Karita, AP /
May 20, 2009)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales called for an about-face in relations with Washington on Thursday, saying past diplomatic spats can be overcome if the new U.S. government refrains from meddling in Bolivia's affairs.

Morales met with U.S. envoy Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, who said their talks were a "good start" toward improving ties.

Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador last year, claiming he had conspired with the Bolivian opposition to incite violence. U.S. officials denied it, and former President George W. Bush's administration kicked out Bolivia's envoy to Washington and suspended trade preferences.

Morales said Thursday the two nations must treat each other with "mutual respect" and Washington should not interfere in Bolivia's internal matters — which he frequently accuses U.S. officials of doing.


Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lt-bolivia-us,0,3133524.story

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All the following happened in Venezuela long before Evo Morales was elected:

Five times in five years Bolivia has been the scene of major citizen rebellions revolving around policies that were sent here from Washington:

•In April 2000 the citizens of Cochabamba rebelled against a water privatization coerced on them by the World Bank (the Bank's chief is appointed by the White House). The deal handed the city's public water system over to the US engineering giant, Bechtel, which promptly raised water rates far beyond the reach of the city's poor. That is the same Bechtel to which Bush later handed a no-bid mega-contract to rebuild Iraq.
•In February 2003 thirty-four Bolivians lost their lives during public protests against an economic belt tightening package imposed on Bolivia by the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. The US is the only single nation in the world which holds a veto over major IMF policies.
•In October 2003 more than fifty Bolivians were killed during protests against a proposed gas export deal to California, a deal backed by the US Embassy here.
•In January 2005 the city of El Alto revolted over another water privatization deal imposed on the country by the World Bank.
•In May and June 2005 a national uprising swept Bolivia, opposing privatization of the country’s vast oil and gas reserves. That privatization was yet another economic experiment pushed on the country by the IMF and World Bank.

http://www.democracyctr.org/newsletter/vol66.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. New Discoveries Reveal US Intervention in Bolivia

New Discoveries Reveal US Intervention in Bolivia
Oct 12 2008
Jeremy Bigwood

As a photo and investigative journalist for more than two decades, I often come across revealing government documents and information through various sources, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests and leaked documents. Most of the documents I have obtained has been through FOIA requests, which allow me to declassify documents from various entities of the US government.

I made my first request of US government documents about Bolivia in 1997 and since then have made subsequent requests for information, ranging from American embassy communiques in La Paz to USAID grant requests. The information below reveals a clear policy of US intervention and meddling in Bolivia´s internal affairs. Almost all the time, this has been done without the knowledge and at the expense of the American taxpayer.

1.The first document, from 2001 is written before a visit by then President Quiroga, to the US, in which the US Embassy states that they didn´t believe he had acted strongly enough against the MAS party, led by Evo Morales. In talking points prepared by the US embassy in La Paz to be used by US Secretary Beers during his meeting with the President, the US government suggests he say, “We were quite concerned by the agreement in November to halt eradication…. We believe that a continued strong response could have weakened the political base of Evo Morales even further.” View the full document here.

2.In 2002, the American embassy qualifies Evo Morales as an “illegal coca agitator” and admits that cocaine production in Bolivia is insignificant for the US. More importantly though, the embassy details a USAID “Political Party Reform Project” that should specifically “serve as a counterweight to the radical MAS or its successors.” View the full document here.

3.In 2004, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) funds the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce organization, CAINCO, through CIPE (Center for International Private Enterprise) to alter an existing Bolivian law and “gain popular support for their policy recommendations”. This clearly shows that US funding was spent to alter internal legislation and in this case, it also shows a historic relationship between US funding institutions and the Santa Cruz opposition. View the full document here.

4.Many organizations funded by NED show a clear political bias. One, the IIPS or Institute of Pedagogical & Social Investigation, refers to Evo Morales and the MAS in their grant request and project summary as an “anti-democratic, radical opposition” that doesn’t represent the majority. Of the three program objectives listed, the last is telling. The NED grant awarded to them will help, “efficient and effective social monitoring.” View the full document here.

5.By 2006, it is evident that the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and USAID are openly working to promote events centered around regional autonomy and decentralization. “…NDl adapted the community forum model piloted in this program to conduct a Santa Cruz dialogue event through its USAID funded political party program to facilitate an open discussion about regional autonomy and decentralization.” View the full document here.

6.The most telling documents from my point of view, are a series of leaked e-mails from within USAID-Bolivia last year. They detail the forming relationship between the U.S. government (specifically Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the US embassy in La Paz) and indigenous groups in the Chapare and Media Luna departments to create a common USAID-guided front against Evo Morales and the MAS. In discussing who to invite to a lunch between indigenous leaders and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in 2007, USAID staff write that the litmus test for being invited is, “a su situacion real frente el gobierno del MAS, etc. ademas son aliados nuestros.” The staff members goes on to discuss the indigenous organizations that USAID programs fund and how their principal demand is to “fortalecer sus organizaciones de base para hacerle frente al MAS:” In order to facilitate communications, one of the USAID officers recommends “immediate assistance” by sending them radios. Shades of Vietnam and the US assistance to the Hmong tribesmen, which only guaranteed the destruction of their way of life. View the full document here.

7.Among my many Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on Bolivia, I have made five such requests to USAID since 2005 to determine exactly what they are doing there. So far, USAID has not responded to my requests, I can only conclude, because they wish to keep their activities there clandestine. USAID denied any response to my latest request about their activities in Bolivia during the last year (2008) by stating that “the few people who are still there will not be able to conduct a search of the documents you request” because of the “political crisis” in the country. This is simply not the case: as anyone who drives by the USAID building knows, for the parking lot is still full and there are hundreds of employees still working there. View October 2008 photos of USAID-Bolivia's full parking lot taken by me and the full document requests and responses here from September 14, 2008, September 19, and September 28.

More:
https://nacla.org/node/5094

http://i229.photobucket.com.nyud.net:8090/albums/ee206/MDatTheG/bolivia/usaidLaPaz.jpg

Huge USAID complex in a very small South American country

[Judi Lynn]

2. Another example of the US's not meddling in Bolivia's internal affairs:

US Denies Removal of Bolivian Missiles Was Secret by David Gollust
Article Posted: 12/23/2005

The United States denied Thursday that it removed anti-aircraft missiles from Bolivia without the knowledge of top officials in La Paz. The State Department says the operation was at the request of Bolivian authorities and in line with an Organization of American States resolution.

Officials here acknowledge that the United States removed a small number of MANPADS, man-portable air defense system, from Bolivia earlier this year as part of a broader effort to keep the shoulder launch missiles out of the hands of terrorists.

But they are denying charges from Bolivia, which figured in that country's presidential election campaign, that the operation was conducted without the knowledge of senior Bolivian officials.

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, the victor in last Sunday's election, has alleged that the 28 Chinese-made missiles were spirited out of the country in June in an operation he described as international intervention.

He says he will press for an investigation of the affair and is quoted as saying he would punish those responsible and evict U.S. military advisers from the country.

Questioned about the issue here, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said U.S. officials had worked with the Bolivian government on the removal of a small quantity of missiles he said were in a deteriorating condition.

He said the removal came at the request of the Bolivian government consistent with an O.A.S. resolution last June and said suggestions to the contrary are untrue:

"As for who was told in Bolivia about the action, you'll have to talk to the Bolivian government about that. As for these other allegations, it's just not true. This was done at the request of the Bolivian government, and it was done in partnership and consistent I would note with an Organization of American States resolution on the matter," he said.

More:
http://www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm/74308?articleid=74308

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Bolivia's Defense Chiefs Ousted in Missile Scandal
Reuters
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page A11


LA PAZ, Bolivia, Jan. 18 -- A scandal in Bolivia over surface-to-air missiles prompted the defense minister's resignation and the army chief's dismissal Tuesday, plunging the military into a political crisis days before socialist president-elect Evo Morales is to be sworn into office.

The outgoing interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, said he had accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Gonzalo Mendez, and fired Gen. Marcelo Antezana over apparent irregularities in the destruction in the United States of a batch of Chinese-made missiles in October.

"I have relieved the commander of the army of his duties and accepted the defense minister's resignation," Rodriguez told reporters after a cabinet meeting Tuesday.

At the height of campaigning for last month's presidential elections, Morales denounced the destruction of the 28 to 30 Chinese HN-5 shoulder-fired missiles, the only arms of their kind in the military's arsenal.

Antezana, the army chief, told reporters that Washington initiated the drive to destroy the missiles because it feared Morales would win the presidency of the South American country.

He later retracted his remarks.

Morales, who will be sworn into office Sunday, has lodged a legal complaint over the transfer, accusing the president of "putting Bolivia under foreign domination."

Rodriguez said that he had authorized the destruction of the missiles, but not their transfer to the United States.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011800124.html

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Exclusive: Peace Corps, Fulbright Scholar Asked to 'Spy' on Cubans, Venezuelans
U.S. Embassy Official's 'Spy' Request Violated Long-Standing U.S. Policy

By JEAN FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY and BRIAN ROSS
Feb. 8, 2008

In an apparent violation of U.S. policy, Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar were asked by a U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia "to basically spy" on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to Peace Corps personnel and the Fulbright scholar involved.

"I was told to provide the names, addresses and activities of any Venezuelan or Cuban doctors or field workers I come across during my time here," Fulbright scholar John Alexander van Schaick told ABCNews.com in an interview in La Paz.

Van Schaick's account matches that of Peace Corps members and staff who claim that last July their entire group of new volunteers was instructed by the same U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia to report on Cuban and Venezuelan nationals.

The State Department says any such request was "in error" and a violation of long-standing U.S. policy which prohibits the use of Peace Corps personnel or Fulbright scholars for intelligence purposes.

"We take this very seriously and want to stress this is not in any way our policy," a senior State Department official told ABCNews.com.

More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4262036&page=1

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Very strange USA-y things have been going on in Santa Cruz, Bolivia this week. First up, the US ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg....

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/SLTe5bFnoJI/AAAAAAAACVY/IA4J1q94mSk/s200/PhilipGoldberg.jpg

.... went on a visit to the region ostensibly to do some USAID business and stuff. In the words of Goldberg, "......I went to Santa Cruz for various reasons; to deliver aid packages, I was at the inauguration of the special Olympics with the Prefect (Ruben Costas), and I also showed via tele-info the aid in this sector and the aid given in computing. I also took advantage of this visit to meet, in public, with the prefect Costas, only because this is part of my diplomatic duties."

Which would be nice if it were true, of course, but Goldberg has been caught in a big fat lie. Here's an image of the "public meeting" Goldberg had with Costas....

http://2.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/SLTV5R5iYQI/AAAAAAAACVA/g2hRv9ZNevE/s400/bol_costas_goldberg.jpg
.....and it's only because a cameraman at a local TV station was smart enough to get a shot of them together as they entered and left the Prefecture building....


..... that Goldberg actually admitted he met Costas at all. And that thing about "public meeting" is total bull, as according to all sources they had a one-on-one private, closed door meeting that went on for an hour and a half and nobody but nobody was even let into the corridor that leads to the door they were behind. Are the Special Olympics such an interesting subject of conversation?

More:
http://www.incakolanews.blogspot.com/2008/08/those-crazy-crazy-santa-cruz-nights.html

[Judi Lynn]

3. US seeks to ease tensions with Bolivia

Last Updated: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 10:21
US seeks to ease tensions with Bolivia

A senior US diplomat has said Washington hopes for a "new direction" in troubled relations with Bolivia, where he arrived for talks with President Evo Morales.

The visit by Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, comes eight months after Morales expelled the US ambassador to this South American nation, claiming he had conspired with the opposition to incite violence.

US officials denied it, and former President George W. Bush's administration kicked out Bolivia's ambassador to Washington and suspended trade preferences to the country.

Shannon said his visit follows an agreement between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca for officials "to look for a way to deepen our relationship, improve our dialogue and take a new direction in our bilateral relations."

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0521/breaking6.htm