Bolivian President Says Plot on His Life Was Tied to Coup Attempt

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Bolivian President Says Plot on His Life Was Tied to Coup Attempt
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
April 19, 2009

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president, said that a reported attempt to assassinate him last week was linked to a vote in Congress that would allow him to run for re-election, and he suggested the plot was related to a coup attempt last year that led him to expel the American ambassador.

Mr. Morales said earlier last week that an elite police squad shot dead three men in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz who were involved in a thwarted plot to kill him, his vice president and his chief of staff. They were killed after they opened fire on commandos who tried to enter their hotel room.

On Saturday Mr. Morales said the police had determined the plot involved European mercenaries, with Bolivians aiding in the planning. Investigators are looking into how the suspected plot was organized and financed, with Mr. Morales saying he did not believe that Bolivian businessmen and oligarchs “financed so much money.”

~snip~
He used the bulk of a press conference here to detail the history of what he believes to have been involvement by American officials in attempts to overthrow him. In September he expelled American ambassador Philip S. Goldberg, accusing him of supporting rebellious groups in eastern Bolivia. Mr. Morales also later threw out officials from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mr. Morales said Saturday that he gave instructions to his vice president to intervene with certain “neo-liberal” groups. Police officers discovered arms, bombs and telescopic sights with silencers, he said.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/world/americas/19bolivia.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

[EFerrari]

1. How can this still be going on.

We need to smudge the State Department. Or, DEA? Weren't they kicked out of Bolivia? I get worried every time I hear that one of these progressive leaders has kicked them out of the country. :(

[Democracyinkind]

3. I think USAID is the cover for our business there.

[EFerrari]

6. Good morning! I'm just wondering if this campaign against Evo

is continuing after Bush more because there are still State Department holdovers or because our drug dealers are mad because he kicked them out of the country. It's even money.

[Democracyinkind]

9. I'm not so sure. I don't see any change since Obama took office.

The same guys are in Bolivia now that wanted to get rid of him 5 years ago. Exactly the same people.

Somehow I can't get my head around the idea that this is something Obama is left out of. He should have recalled the whole USAID mission and one of his first steps should have been to stop funneling USAID-money into secessionist tribes there.

Remember the Hmong? All they got for helping us was getting extinct as a cultural group.
The Bolivians should study that chapter of US history. The tribes that are playing our game down there are gonna be the first ones who get royally fucked.

I don't believe we should meddle in South American politics anymore. It's been more than 200 years now, it's time to change our attitude.

[EFerrari]

13. The white separatists will never stop trying to kill Evo.

I think he probably knows that.

After the summit, it may be that Obama or his team may attend to Latin America for a minute. But, if anything is to be done about our tax dollars funding assassination, we will have to lobby Mrs. Clinton.

It's hard to say how long it will take to wash the Bush out of our hair. My guess is well into Obama's second term. :(

[Democracyinkind]

29. Great post. I totally agree. But I don't fear the white separatists

as much as I fear ethnic minorities armed to their teeth with CIA arms and Company money beefing them up. We know that it doesn't work, and it can't be in our, the tribes or Bolivias interest.

The white separatists and moguls in South America - at least we can keep an eye on them, know who they are, what they do. As soon as it takes the Contra-path we totally loose that ability, that's one of the reasons I don't like the idea of arming ethnic minorities and using them as pawns.

Of course the main reason for opposing such policies will always be the fact that they always end up killing allot of innocent/disinterested parties.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Irishman confirmed as among alleged Bolivian plotters

Irishman confirmed as among alleged Bolivian plotters
24-year-old Mike Dwyer
Published Date: 19 April 2009

http://editorial.jpress.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/web/Upload/BELF//TH1_19420094Bolivia%20Mike%20Dwyer%202_%20Lewis.JPG

It has been confirmed that an Irisman has been shot dead in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate the President of Bolivia.
The Irish Foreign Office has confirmed the young man's name as Michael Dwyer, 24, from County Tipperary.

Bolivian police said they had broken up an armed international group that was plotting to assassinate President Evo Morales. Three suspects were killed and two were arrested in a half-hour shoot-out with officers in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, police said.

Police confiscated explosives, high-calibre weapons and plans to follow the president's motorcade, police commander Victor Hugo Escobar said.

~snip~
Mr Dwyer was a graduate from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology with a degree in construction management.

He had been employed with a Galway security firm and was sent to Bolivia for training in November. However it is understood he was recruited to work in security for one of the other men who was killed, a Bolivian man with Croatian citizenship.

More:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Irishman-confirmed-as-among-alleged.5184114.jp

Camouflage can be so slimming.

[Democracyinkind]

4. How is this possible? Change? Why are we trying to kill him?

I just can't freakin' believe it. Proof:

http://rogerhollander.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/new-discoveries-reveal-us-intervention-in-bolivia/

read the pdf's. We are so there. It's not even a secret.

[Judi Lynn]

8. My god! The investigative reporter who wrote this article MUST watch his back.

We know ANY ONE OF OUR COUNTRY'S REPORTERS COULD HAVE DONE THIS. They aren't in the investigation business, unless it pertains to a Democrat and a sexual relationship. What a deadly shame. We are being screwn completely by our trusty government watchdogs!

I had to look at the photo of the working USAID building in Bolivia, with its completely filled parking lot, well after Bolivia's elected President asked _Bush's meddling, conspiratorial ambassador to leave the country. First, can you BELIEVE the size of this building in Bolivia? USAID? Then, why IS it so busy continually, as the reporter indicates?

http://www.bigwood.biz.nyud.net:8090/USAID-expedite/20081008-155026-BO.jpg
I advise all Latin American news watchers of good will to take a look at this article posted by Democracyinkind. You'll be glad you did.

[Democracyinkind]

10. Notice that size does matter ....

Look at our embassy in iraq. Look at our USAID buildings. If they look like a fucking fortress, they probably are used that way.
That was a pretty witty thing to notice. thanks.

BTW make sure TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF's from that article! Those PDF's paint a really clear picture and are a perfect starting point for this subject...

[Judi Lynn]

17. Am looking at the first one with Jorge Quiroga, who was vice president for a mad dog killer dictator

from the 1960's whom the US gave material assistance in overthrowing the democratically elected President and installing a genocidal program which rounded up indigenous people, imprisoned many, tortured many, killed many, and removed them from their ancestral land, giving that land over to imported white South African farmers who wanted to start new farms there for free on free land, helping Hugo Banzer in his dream to create a "white Bolivia."

When he was serving his other term, his only elected term, decades later, in the 1990's, Jorge Quiroga was his V.P., and Banzer died of cancer.

The communication to Quiroga keeps referring to "Plan Dignidad," so I had to look this up and get a quick view of what it is. Here's a thumbnail sketch:

Plan Dignity
From SourceWatch

There appears to be a Bolivian equivalent of Plan Colombia named Plan Dignity <1> or Plan Dignidad <2>:

In 1998, President Hugo Banzer initiated "Plan Dignidad", described in the report as an "all-out, no-holds-barred approach to eradication" that was so successful U.S. officials cited the country as a model for the rest of the Andean region. But that success came at a substantial cost, according to the report.

The Plan included dispatching hundreds of security forces into Chapare to manually destroy the coca plants in continuous operations and a permanent military presence in Chapare, all paid for by the U.S. embassy. And while the Plan was supposed to be supplemented by an alternative development programme for peasants whose coca crops were uprooted, the latter simply failed to keep up.

The speed with which eradication efforts swept through Chapare "created gaps between eradication and alternative development assistance that can leave peasant farmers without livelihoods," said a recent report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO).

Chapare was already one of the poorest parts of Bolivia, but the loss of the coca crop without any alternatives for farmers plunged most of the region into deprivation.

"This notable lag (in providing alternative development) has greatly exacerbated the extreme poverty in the region and led to soaring malnutrition, heightening tensions in the region and provoking conflict, the WOLA report says.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Plan_Dignity

I will look at the remaining material as soon as I can find the time. I've filed this away for future reference, as well.

This is a real find, surely appreciate your sharing it here.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Efforts in Bolivia to secure release of Irishman's body

Last Updated: Sunday, April 19, 2009, 11:24
Efforts in Bolivia to secure release of Irishman's body

http://www.irishtimes.com.nyud.net:8090/newspaper/breaking/images/2009/0419/228633_1.jpg

PATRICK LOGUE and ELAINE EDWARDSAn Irish official is in Bolivia in an effort to secure the release of the body of Mike Dwyer (24) who was shot dead in the city of Santa Cruz on Thursday.

The former GMIT student from Ballinderry, Co Tipperary, died in mysterious circumstances with two other men and are accused of being part of a gang plotting to kill president Evo Morales.

Bolivian police said a cache of weapons was discovered in the hotel after a 30-minute shoot-out but other reports suggest the men were surprised by the police raid and shot unarmed. Graphic pictures show the men lying dead in their underwear in the hotel and other pictures how one of the dead men with his hands tied.

~snip~
One of Mr Dwyer's 324 friends on his Facebook account is Eduardo Rozsa Flores (49), who was also killed during the incident. Mr Flores is a Bolivian-Hungarian who fought in separatist movements in the former Yugoslavia. According to reports Mr Flores commanded a brigade in the Balkans after arriving there as a war correspondent in 1991. Magyarosi Arpak, a Romanian, was also reported killed in the Santa Cruz incident.

Mario Francisco Tadik Astorga (58), a Bolivian-Croatian who also fought in the Balkans, and Elot Toazo, a Hungarian computer expert, were arrested and taken away for questioning. They were later remanded in prison in La Paz.

~snip~
Mr Dwyer was a graduate of construction management from Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). He finished his studies last year and worked for a security company in Galway until last November. It is understood he was sent the US by his company and secured another security job in South America while there.

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0419/breaking4.htm

[Judi Lynn]

7. Bolivia: Croatian militants in Evo Morales assassination plot?

Bolivia: Croatian militants in Evo Morales assassination plot?
Submitted by WW4 Report on Sat, 04/18/2009 - 22:33.

President Evo Morales said three men shot dead by an elite National Police squad in the eastern city of Santa Cruz on April 16 were involved in a foiled plot to assassinate him. Police officials said the three men—identified as a Romanian, an Irishman and a Bolivian—were killed after they opened fire on commandos who tried to enter their room on the fourth floor of the Hotel Las Américas. A Hungarian and a Bolivian were taken into custody in connection to the shootout. Bolivia's official news agency described the five men implicated as mercenaries belonging to a "terrorist cell."

The group, suspected by authorities of being behind an April 15 dynamite attack on the home of Santa Cruz Catholic Cardinal Julio Terrazas, was tracked down the following day to the Hotel Las Américas. The ensuing gun-battle killed Arpad Magyarosi, a Romanian; Irishman Michael Martin Dwyer; and Eduardo Rozsa Flores, a Bolivian-Hungarian named as ringleader. Authorities say Rozsa Flores fought in the war for Croatian independence in the 1990s, where he commanded a paramilitary group. He was later involved in the right-wing autonomy movement in Santa Cruz, and was named as a member of Opus Dei. The two arrested men were named as Mario Francisco Tasik Astorga, 58, another veteran of the Croatian war, and Elot Toaso, a Hungarian computer expert.

The two detained men were formally charged with "terrorism" by a court in La Paz, where they have been transfered, and authorities say they have already found evidence linking the cell to the Santa Cruz autonomy movement. One anonymous source told the official Bolivian Information Agency the men "were economically financed" by powerful Santa Cruz interests. (BBC News, ABI, April 18; NYT, April 17; Bolpress, Bolpress, April 16)

http://www.ww4report.com/node/7212

[cali]

11. It is possible that this has zip to do with the U.S.

It's quite possible that this attempt was perpetrated by Bolivian businessmen and/or others.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Phillip Goldberg was found to be meeting with these "Bolivian businessmen" after midnight.

Not actually kosher behavior.

[cali]

15. please provide evidence

not only that, but what Bolivian businessmen? Also, Golberg has been gone for 8 months. I know you believe that every evil perpetrated in the world is the work of Amerikkka, but do try and use a modicum of critical reasoning. Three is no evidence that the U.S. was behind this, and there do exist, in the world, other forces beyond the U.S. Gasp, there even exists other negative forces.

[Judi Lynn]

18. You're going to have to do some homework on this on your own. DU'ers have discussed

each of these situations as they came up all along the way, for years.

Get in there and start looking for yourself.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Here's a quick short list from someone's blog of events which have been noted elsewhere.

It works for me, and I'm going to need to leave as soon as I look around DU some more as I still haven't slept, and I don't want to spend what little time I've got doing a lot of legwork for you. DU'ers have discussed these items mentioned in this link already, published in other articles:

Saturday, September 13, 2008
Goldberg's last hurrah

~snip~
1. USAID funding of Morales' political opponents.
2. Asking Fulbright scholars to spy for the US mission.
3. Caught hanging with the head of Santa Cruz's agrobusiness consortium and a Colombian fugitive crime lord.
4. The granting of "political ayslum" to the butchers of the 'Gas War'. ...Well, I guess that one isn't exclusive to Goldberg, but still.
5. Getting caught meeting in secret with the racist secessionist, opposition Prefect Rubin Costas just prior to the outbreak of pro-autonomy violence.

http://casa-del-duderino.blogspot.com/2008/09/goldbergs-last-hurrah_13.html

There's a host of nasty stunts this clown has perpetrated and all it takes is your own initiative to find them, if you haven't actually seen them already, as a student of Latin American events, and a reader of US/Latin American-focused DU threads.

[Democracyinkind]

14. Please read the links, especially the PDF's.

Granted, the ass.att. could have been done by anyone, that doesn't change the fact that we are meddling there big time.

And then there is that old saying... " A croat in South America ... " or maybe that is something of a local joke.

Read the PDF's. It's worth it.

[cali]

16. i'm open to the possibility that rogue elements within the U.S. gov't

are behind this, but assuming it as fact, is a different matter. And no, I'm not open to believing that Obama is involved in this.

[Democracyinkind]

19. Are you open to read the PDF? We want Morales done away with, pretty obvious.

If you believe this to be a democracy, Obama can stop this, it's not deep politics shit, it's our official position.

I don't believe Obama is behind this, of course. The PDF's are from the Bush era. I think me and the others on this thread are just surprised to notice that we didn't change our plans for Bolivia with this administration. Granted, it is very early to be judging this. Then again, I'd be rather surprised to see the US change its policy toward south america. It is a long going tradition we have.

Just so you don't get me wrong. I don't believe there is evidence that we are behind this ass.att. I just added some background to the discussion that shows that we've been pushing the "oust Morales" thing pretty strong in the last years, it seems even this year, something that disturbs me.

[Peace Patriot]

30. Obama is President of the United States, so he IS involved in anything beind done

with U.S. tax dollars or by paid agents of the U.S. government. He is the commander-in-chief. I'm not saying that he can or does know everything that is going on, but he IS responsible for it, and if it is something like as assassination plot, or U.S. military planning or activities, or CIA activities to destabilize a democratic government, he had better find out about it. That is his job. It is "his watch."

What you or I believe about Obama is not relevant. That is just guessing. What Morales is saying to Obama--it seems to me--is, "Are you involved in this? Is this your policy? Is the U.S. government still doing this?" It's a fair question, given both recent and past history. He is asking, is it your policy?, and, by implication, he is saying, 'Please stop this, if it is your policy, and please investigate it, if it is not your policy.' Fair enough. He did not accuse Obama of it. And, by God, I want that question answered!

I just read a news report of something Obama said in a private meeting with the Latin American leaders--he disavowed any U.S. policy of assassinating other leaders. So, next would be the questions: Are there Bushwhacks lingering in the State Dept, the CIA, the DEA, USAID, or other agencies, violating Obama policy on this matter? I hope that, a) Obama was sincere in what he said, and b) will act to insure that his policy is being followed. I don't know that either is true. I am inclined to believe that Obama is stating his true policy, but I don't know it for sure. I also don't know about either his inclination, or his power, to find out what's going on and to enforce his policy.

One other thing I'm worried about: There are official U.S. wars, and there are private corporate wars. Under the Bushwhacks, the two became one. Under Obama, they are not so merged. I see him as trying to re-assert our sovereign power as a people--imperfectly, by fits and starts--but at least trying. I think he is in a very, VERY difficult position, following upon the Bush Junta. And here is what worries me most: The Bushwhacks stole lots and lots of money from us, created private armies at our expense, and were in a position to purchase and plant all sorts of operatives in other countries, as well as in our own agencies. I am particularly worried about the Bushwhack holdovers in the embassy in Colombia, a country that the Bushwhacks larded with $6 BILLION in military aid, and where thousands of union leaders, peasant farmers, human rights workers and others have been slaughtered by military-connected death squads. But that is not my only worry, considering the resources and the reach of Bush Junta players. It may not be Obama policy to kill other democratic leaders for being leftists, or to destabilize their countries, or to fund their fascist coup plotters, but it may be continued Bushwhack policy, using funds and resources created with our money, and operatives inside of and outside of our government. It's possible that Obama could be worked into a corner--or is already there--where he is forced to wink at nefarious private activities, up to and including war (including civil war), and could even be maneuvered into permitting U.S. military support for the wrong side, in some situations (much like the CIA tried to maneuver JFK into supporting the "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba).

To believe that Obama has good intentions is not enough. We need to realistically understand his situation, and our own, as a people with a grievously wounded democracy. To try to turn a discussion of the potential for U.S. government tacit, covert or overt support of injustice, in the context of a private corporate war or any other kind of war, on whether or not we "believe in" Obama as a good president, is not fair. 'Worship Obama or STFU,' you seem to be saying. I support Obama. I voted for him. I contributed money to his campaign. I worked for his election. I wish him well. I wish him great success in helping us to restore our democracy and gather ourselves up from our rape and ruin by the Bushwhacks. But I don't have illusions about his power or his position. We need to know the truth. We need to be realistic in our assessments. That is the job and the duty of citizens in a democracy, to try to prevent our leaders from making mistakes, as well as to advocate our positions on issues.

[madrchsod]

21. Bolivia has 1/3 of the world`s supply of lithium

could it be bolivia will be the saudi arabia of the next fuel source in the world?

[bemildred]

22. You all need to consider the idea that making Obama look bad was a plus for these guys.

It is not correct that nobody wants to undermine Obama.

[EFerrari]

23. Wait -- what guys? I don't get it. n/t

[bemildred]

24. Well, for example, the "intelligence sources" the Bolivians had, who were they?

Could they be US government too. It's fun to speculate.

I'm saying that I don't think the US government is of one mind on these things yet.

Edit: you gotta read more spy novels.

[EFerrari]

25. The US gov can't be of one mind right now, it's in transition.

This is the stuff I see going on (spy novel deprived as I am. :) )

Bush tried to destabilize Evo's government and we know that because the kids our dumbass Ambassador tried to recruit to spy for him came forward.

Bush's State Department has been funding the white separatists in Santa Cruz via USAID.

Morales kicked DEA out of Bolivia. To tell you the truth, this act seems to me more dangerous than redistributing land.

So, I agree. There are a lot of elements loose here.

But Evo doesn't want to make Obama look bad. He's hoping our government will stop trying to get him killed, imho.

[bemildred]

26. Yeah, the quetion is what happens now?

I don't expect that we will be told all of it, but we can watch the attitudes and actions of the various leaders and governments over the next few weeks, and get a good idea of which way the wind blows. I'm very interested.

[EFerrari]

27. Evo is usually sort of reserved. But he made several refs over the week end

to the "politics of assassination". So it seems to me that he is not at ease and that the pressure is still on.

Eta: I believe that all of the LA leaders understand that our government is in transition.

[bemildred]

28. Americas Summit: View from Cuba

HAVANA TIMES, April 19 — In the run-up to the Fifth Summit of the Americas, from Mexican soil and through CNN, US President Barack Obama sent a message to the Cuban government. He spoke almost in unison with his secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who voiced the same tone during her trip to neighboring Haiti.

Later, the White House spokesperson reiterated what both pointed out were actions incumbent on Cuba if it wants dialogue with the giant to the north: it must grant freedom to the island’s political prisoners and to its press.

Prior to the Summit, the Obama administration announced a series of Cuba-related reforms, such as lifting restrictions on remittances and trips by Cuban-Americans, as well as proposals on information and communications—from cell phone services to satellite TV signals.

The good faith of these efforts can be measured through both the intentions and the outcomes. But here, it doesn’t take a political science graduate to recognize two qualities.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=7624

[EFerrari]

31. "The double standard isn't on the table". No kidding!

[Hulk]

32. Wouldn't surprise me in the least....

The US has been very involved in overthrowing leftist governments all across the world, and ESPECIALLY in Latin America. I'm glad he kicked out our ambassador, and if he had reason to believe the DEA officials were not working WITH their government, I'm glad they were tossed out as well.

Hey Americans, turn the tables one time! How would you react if it was your country? Would you allow some foreign diplomats to stay here if you believed they were trying to assassinate your president and their DEA officials were corrupt or not working for the interests of the US? Hell yes! Grow up America. You are NOT omnipotent. You are JUST a nation like so many others around the world. Nation of morons, but still just A nation!

[EFerrari]

33. In both Bolivia and Venezuela, the drug interdictions have nearly doubled

since the DEA is gone. :shrug:

[starroute]

34. A lot of this may not be under the control of the administration

Ever since these kinds of regime-change operations were outsourced to the NED/USAID complex of NGO's in the 80's (to provide the kind of deniability that isn't available to the CIA), they've been somewhat insulated from changes in the administration. Budgets and priorities are set well in advance, and bureaucracies within the NGO's keep going on their own momentum. Vin Weber may no longer be running the NED, but I can't believe much else has had time to change. Also, groups like the International Republican Institute are going to pretty much keep doing what they want irrespective -- and can be counted upon to stir up trouble.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2600

September 12th 2007

The so-called “defenders of human rights” in Venezuela, and NGOs (non-government organisations), receive a large part of their funding through Freedom House, another group contracted by USAID-OTI in Venezuela. Freedom House has sponsored events such as “The threats to freedom of expression in the 21st century” with the participation of Marcel Granier, president of the coup-plotting television station RCTV, together with Karen Hughes, the Sub secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (the propaganda office of the State Department that supervises Voice of America and other propagandistic media coming from Washington) and the US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, Republican- Florida)

Freedom House also funds US institutions, such as the International Centre for Non-violent Conflict (ICNVC) that gives courses in Gene Sharp’s techniques of “resistance”, and which has advised youth and students movements in Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia and Venezuela. Its president during 2003-2005 was James Woolsey, ex-Director of the CIA and its current president, Peter Ackerman, is a multimillionaire banker who has sponsored “regime changes” in Serbia, Ukraine, and Georgia through the Albert Einstein Institute and its ICNVC. The son of Ackerman participated in the massacre of the Iraqi people in Fallujah. ...

In March 2004, USAID opened up another Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in Bolivia, to supposedly help “reduce tensions in zones of social conflict and help the country with preparations for electoral events”. In this case, USAID contracted the US company Casals & Associates, Inc. (C&A) to manage the more than $13.3 million that they had already granted to 379 organisations, political parties and projects in Bolivia. C&A plays the role in Bolivia which the DAI does in Venezuela, and just like the DAI, C&A is a company with large contracts with the Defence Department, the US Army, US Navy, the Energy Department, Broadcasting Board of Governance, the Voice of America, the Office for Transmissions (of propaganda) to Cuba, the Interior Security Department, the State Department and many more. ...

In Bolivia, USAID-OTI has focussed its efforts on combating and influencing the Constituent Assembly and the separatism of the regions rich in natural resources, such as Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. ... The USAID-OTI program in Bolivia is openly supporting the autonomy of certain regions, such as Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija, and therefore promoting separatism and the destabilisation of the country and the government of Evo Morales. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), another one of Washington’s financial organs, which promotes subversion and intervention in more than 70 countries across the world, including Venezuela, is also funding groups in regions such as Santa Cruz, which fight for separatism. The current US ambassador in Bolivia, Philip Goldberg, is an expert in issues of separatism, having been the head of the US mission in ex-Yugoslavia that was divided into two countries: Bosnia and Serbia, with US “help”.


http://www.iri.org/lac/bolivia.asp

Advancing Democracy in Bolivia

The International Republican Institute’s (IRI) programs focus on improving governance in resource-rich but disenfranchised communities and strengthening political processes so people see democracy’s tangible benefits.

In IRI’s program promoting good governance in resource-rich but disenfranchised communities, citizens in Potosi and Oruro, local authorities and the private sector work together to develop policies that benefit the entire community. ...

In December 2005, Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo Morales won the presidency with a historic 54.3 percent of the vote – the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982. Morales promised to alter the country's traditional political class structure and empower the nation's poor majority by nationalizing the energy sector, re-examining the current coca eradication programs and vowing to decriminalize coca growing. Morales also was highly critical of the "neo-liberal" economic policies that have been implemented in Bolivia over the past two decades.

Acting on a campaign promise, Morales called for the creation of a constitutional assembly to redraft the country’s charter. The entire process was tainted with illegalities and violence as the central government attempted to draft the constitution unilaterally. As the process reached deadlock between government and opposition, the constitutional text was ultimately approved by Morales’s followers in sessions in which the opposition was shut out by violent social movements and police. The tension between the government and the lowlands has become more acute as the new charter clashes with the lowlands’ plans for regional autonomy. This has created an uphill battle for Morales as four regions in the lowlands have approved regional autonomous statutes.

[starroute]

35. Peter Ackerman, Freedom House, and OTPOR

This 2006 article is with reference to Iran -- but it displays the same attempt to export an eastern European model of subversion through nominally independent NGO's. OPTOR in particular is a name that pops up in a lot of odd places.

http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto052220061010069086&page=2

Financial Times
30-Mar-2006

Peter Ackerman, chairman of the {Freedom House} board of trustees, who introduced Mr Bush, is also the founder of a separate organisation that promotes non-violent, civic disobedience as a form of resistance to repressive regimes. His International Centre for Non-Violent Conflict has organised discreet "workshops" in the Gulf emirate of Dubai to teach Iranians the lessons learned from east European movements. ...

Mr Ackerman, who is very wealthy from an earlier career as a financier, says he does not accept government money. Questioned by the FT, Freedom House confirmed it had received funding from the State Department for activities in Iran. It declined to give details but said it was not involved in Mr Ackerman's work in Dubai. ...

Some academics, activists and those involved in the growing US business of spreading freedom and democracy are alarmed that such semi-covert activities risk damaging the public and transparent work of other organisations, and will backfire inside Iran.

"The danger is that this is a move towards covert political warfare that will completely stymie the whole idea of democracy building. This kind of activity endangers nearly 20 years of democracy promotion," commented Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, a UK founding governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.


http://www.senzacensura.org/public/rivista/sc07_2406en.htm

SENZA CENSURA N.24
november '07 - february '08

US PROJECTS FOR VENEZUELA
Another ‘Orange Revolution’ after the Ukrainian and Yugoslavian ones, a destabilization plan made in USA

In these days, Venezuela lives a big destabilization plan aiming to overthrow Chavez government and to pave the way for an international intervention. This plan follows a way already putted in practice on other countries like Yugoslavia to overthrow Milosevic, or Ukraine with the ‘Orange Revolution’. This plan was used also in Georgia for the ‘Rose Revolution’. The text of this plan, written by Gene Sharp, promoter of the Albert Einstein Institution of the United States, promotes the utilization of the civil non-violent resistance to make radical political changes in a country. But Sharp’s plan contains almost 200 actions and strategies for the social, political and economic destabilization; it includes strikes, demonstrations or the utilization of internet to build a movement (or only to show that a movement is strong and supported), disclaims the legitimate government with the aim to overturn the sovereignty of the countries and open the doors to an international intervention. These strategies were used with success by organizations guided by young people in Yugoslavia, Georgia and Ukraine, financed by the US State Department, propitiated by Gene Sharp and his colleague Peter Ackerman.

The pupil of Sharp, Ackerman, is now the president of Freedom House financed by the State Department to ‘promote democracy’ in the world by the American way; it has a seat in Venezuela from September 2004, after the revocation referendum against Chavez. Peter Ackerman took up his engagement replacing James Woosley, ex-director of CIA representing the US intelligence and security forces. Also Ackerman is a promoter of the International Centre for Non-Violent Conflict, organization that produced documentaries like ‘Bringing down a dictator’, ‘Orange Revolution’ and books like ‘Strategic Nonviolent Conflict’ and ‘A Force More Powerful’.

Also Ackerman works with CANVAS organization (Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies) that is the new face of the OTPOR (‘resistance’ in Serbian language), organization of young people, financed by the State Department to overthrow Milosevic. In the web page of CANVAS there is a section dedicated to the ‘actual battlefields’ (http://www.canvasopedia.org/content/battlefield/live.htm) and Venezuela is one of the battlefields where they work with social and political organizations of those countries. In this page there is also the list of the armaments used for these battlefields.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

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[bemildred]

37. Thank you, this is what I'm getting at in post #22.

One should not assume that when the government does something, Obama has signed off on it, that is not even how it is supposed to be. However, if things continue to be allowed without any comment, it starts to become safe to assume things. If Obama allows his ostensible policies to be undermined without doing anything, that is a different matter. I am not in favor of treating Obama with kid gloves, but he needs to be allowed time to make it clear what he means to do, and that requires some patient observation.

But there is nothing wrong with holding his feet to the fire when the time comes, he works for us.

[Vidar]

38. Obama talks eloquently, but he's changed very litte.