[R-G] POLITICS: U.S. Ties to Bolivian Opposition "Shrouded in Secrecy"

[Anthony Fenton]

POLITICS:  U.S. Ties to Bolivian Opposition "Shrouded in Secrecy"
By Haider Rizvi
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43922

NEW YORK, Sep18 (IPS) - Who in Bolivia is receiving millions of U.S.  
taxpayer dollars? That is what many Latin America policy analysts in  
Washington want to know.

"Washington has decided to keep its ties to Bolivia's opposition  
shrouded in secrecy," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre  
for Economic and Policy Research, an independent think tank.

In interviews with IPS, Weisbrot and other critics of U.S. foreign  
policy towards Latin America and the Andean region voiced deep concern  
over the George W. Bush administration's reluctance to disclose  
details regarding the amount of U.S. funding and its recipients in  
Bolivia.

"The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is doing in  
Bolivia what it was doing in Venezuela...aiding the opposition," said  
independent researcher and writer Jeremy Bigwood, who specialises in  
Latin American affairs.

For example, a July 2002 declassified message from the U.S. embassy in  
Bolivia to Washington said, "A planned USAID political party reform  
project aims at implementing an existing Bolivian law that  
would...over the long run, help build moderate, pro-democracy  
political parties that can serve as a counterweight to the radical MAS  
[party of now President Evo Morales] or its successors."

Bigwood has made several attempts to obtain detailed information about  
the nature of current U.S. spending in Bolivia, without success. He  
says he has filed five separate petitions under the Freedom of  
Information Act since 2005.

However, one FOIA request he filed revealed that the quasi- 
governmental National Endowment for Democracy had funded programmes  
that brought 13 young "emerging leaders" from Bolivia to Washington  
between 2002 and 2004 to strengthen their right-wing political parties.

"It's not just the USAID but also other U.S. government entities that  
are putting money into opposition groups in Bolivia," Bigwood told  
IPS, charging that a major part of the funding is apparently aimed at  
"bribing people" in that country.

The State Department denies these charges. However, last week,  
President Morales declared the U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg  
"persona non grata" and asked him to leave his country within 72  
hours. Morales accused Goldberg of aiding right-wing Bolivian  
opposition groups.

The opposition in five out of Bolivia's nine provinces is up in arms  
against the first-ever indigenous government's attempt to rewrite the  
country's constitution and bring about economic and social reforms in  
favour of the majority native population.

According to published reports, in the so-called "Media Luna"  
provinces in the eastern part of the country, which are ruled by right- 
wing governors, many Morales supporters have been killed and wounded  
in attacks by armed opposition activists.

The Media Luna areas have a disproportionate share of Bolivia's  
natural gas resources. The conservative non-indigenous elites want to  
keep their tight control over resources, which the Socialist  
government plans to redistribute the profits among the entire  
population.

The Bolivian federal authorities have arrested the governor of Pando  
province who is believed to have ordered violent attacks on Morales  
supporters. Pando's governor Leopoldo Fernandez is accused of hiring  
the hit men who killed at least 16 farmers.

In response to Morales's request, South American leaders met in Chile  
Monday, forcing the Bolivian opposition to resume talks with the  
government on the issue of a referendum on the new constitution and  
other questions.

Reports from Bolivia suggest that pressure from Brazil, Venezuela, and  
other major players in the regions have helped reduce violence in the  
troubled provinces and that situation is returning to normalcy.

However, the Bush administration seems to be sticking to its  
unilateralist stance. On Wednesday, Washington encouraged its citizens  
currently in Bolivia to leave the country, saying special flights were  
being made available. The same day, the U.S. government put Bolivia on  
a "black list" of countries that failed to meet obligations to limit  
drug production in the past year, an issue that involves international  
controversy over its coca plan.

Since coming to power about two years ago, Morales has consistently  
defended his countrymen's right to produce coca, not just because the  
crop has a commercial value, but also because it has ceremonial and  
medical uses by indigenous communities. Coca is used to make cocaine,  
but many native and non-native people in Bolivia's mountainous areas  
use the leaves in tea, or chew them to minimise hunger and treat  
altitude sickness.

To critics, the Bush administration has no justification for its  
conduct in Bolivia, including the so-called war on drugs, and should  
explain to the U.S. public the purpose of its aid distribution in that  
country.

"USAID is not supposed to be a clandestine organisation," said  
Weisbrot. "But by providing clandestine aid to opposition groups, it  
gives the impression that the U.S. is contributing to efforts to  
destabilise the Bolivian government."

Both Weisbrot and Bigwood said they are also concerned about reports  
that the U.S. Peace Corps volunteers were asked by the U.S. embassy to  
spy on people inside Bolivia.

(END/2008)