- 21 Feb 2004 04:04
#107538
http://www.narconews.com/Issue32/article891.html
Terrorists? Or Political Prisoners?
Washington Tries to Destroy the Bolivian Popular Movement
By Alex Contreras Baspineiro
Part I in a Narco News Investigative Series
February 16, 2004
"Years ago they accused us being communists. After that, drug
traffickers. Now they say we're terrorists: But the important thing
is they can't destroy us. We are stronger every day."
- Evo Morales
Congressman and Coca Grower
"Bolivia could become the Afghanistan of the Andes, a failed
government that exports drugs and chaos," wrote former Bolivian
president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, last November 13th, on
the pages of the Washington Post.
The man who is Bolivia's greatest symbol of neoliberal and
imperial politics has that view of the social movements of this
country.
Recall that on October 17, 2003, the men and women of Bolivia,
from the countryside and the city, wrote a page of dignity in
toppling a tyrant known as "Goñi," to reject the current economic
model, to reject that exportation of gas to North American
markets, and to expel a president to the only country that would
take him: the United States.
These are the social movements, their leaders, and
spokesmen, who were accused by the traditional political party
voices and by the U.S. Embassy to be drug trafficking
organizations, subversives, anarcho-syndicalists, and, most
recently, painted as terrorists.
Let's take a look:
The so-called "war on terrorism" that the United States pushed
onto Bolivia was radicalized post-September 11, 2001.
In June of 2002, this country held general elections for president,
vice president, and legislators.
Evo Morales, and the "Movement Toward Socialism" (MAS) party,
and Felipe Quispe and the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement
(MIP) party, were accused, through a millionaire media
campaign, of being financed by "money from terrorism."
In spite of the fact that the then-ambassador of the country to the
North, Manuel Rocha, dared to suggest that Bolivians should not
vote for the coca leader, the response was to the contrary,
because the MAS consolidated itself as the party with the second
highest number of electoral votes in a multi-party field.
Death Threats
Under the banner of a "war on terrorism," George W. Bush
escalated his military intervention throughout the world and,
logically, in Latin America, and still more logically in Bolivia,
because this country, in the heart of the continent, is a
geo-strategic region for imperial goals.
The fight against terrorism has become the greatest pretext to
weaken the sovereignty of nations, to increase the violation of
human rights, to repress social movements, and to block
self-determination by the people.
The U.S. strategy is based on the installation of new military
bases, to back the existing bases, arms trafficking, total control
of drug trafficking, training from U.S. military advisors and the
installation of monitoring and surveillance systems.
The United States, relying on its military might, in the imposition
of plans like Puebla Panama and Colombia, and on the pretext
of the fight against terrorism is trying to "recolonize" our América.
In November of 2002, according to the confesión of a Bolivian
military official, the very same Manuel Rocha, while ambassador,
told the High Military Command of Bolivia, in reference to
Congressman Evo Morales: "I have told you to put the ice on him.
He's already a huge political force."
In January of 2003, a U.S. advisor, in a meeting with civil leaders
of Santa Cruz, told them: "Evo must be eliminated. The MAS
should not participate in the municipal elections because it
would be a catastrophe for the country."
In February of 2003, after popular uprising, a supposed National
Liberation ARMY (ELN), located in an unnamed region with
armed and masked men never appeared.
In March of 2003, the current U.S. Ambassador, David Greanlea,
in an "intelligence report" delivered by the then-Vice (and current)
President Carlos Mesa, said: "Reliable and true information has
been obtained that the Movement Toward Socialism is planning
a military coup d'etat to topple the Bolivian government in April of
this year. The leaders of the MAS party, Evo Morales Aima and
Antonio Peredo Leigue, are the principal architects and the men
responsible for this plan."
In that presumed coup, the coca growers leader would, the
Embassy claimed, be assassinated.
Coordinated Actions
On April 10, 2003, in the city of El Alto of La Paz, a spectacular
and televised "anti-terrorist" police action occurred, arresting the
Colombian human rights and peasant farmers leader Francisco
"Pacho" Cortes, two other coca growers, and two minors of age.
The Special Investigations Center of the State was in charge of
the montage. The testimony of journalists who attended the raid
is that they arrived at the right time and right place to report on
the raid because they had received calls from the U.S. Embassy.
Presented with the evidence, the former assistant Government
Minister, José Luis Harb, did not deny the U.S. involvement in the
operation: "There are treaties, conventions, and joint actions? in
the fight against terrorism? Terrorism is of an extra-continental
nature, and that's why we have agreements of understanding
with any country, not just the United States."
The first accusation by the Bolivian government against the
alleged "terrorist" was that he belonged to the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After that, they tried to
connect him with the National Liberation Army (ELN) of his
country. Then they said he was with illegal groups and activities
connected to drug trafficking.
Ten months into his detention in the Maximum Security Prison of
Chonchocoro in La Paz, nothing has been proved against the
Colombian nor his Bolivian co-defendants Claudio Ramirez
Cuevas (the former mayor of La Asunta) and Carmelo
Peñaranda (coca growers leader of the Chapare): the two
minors were released on their own recognizance.
In September of 2003, during the community resistance by the
Aymara towns of Sorata and Warisata, the presence of
subversive groups on the banks of Lake Titicaca was alleged.
Media Campaigns
Each of these presumed anti-terrorist actions in this country is
accompanied by an enormous media campaign.
On December 4, 2003, a group of 16 people visiting from
Bangladesh were detained in the airport of Santa Cruz, accused
of being "international terrorists."
The arrest happened after an accusation was received by the
French Embassy in Bolivia, from the France International
Terrorism Center (CITF), that the alleged terrorists were going to
hijack an airplane on the La Paz-Santa Cruz-Argentina route in
order to attack U.S. targets: But twenty-four hours later, the
accused were released for lack of evidence.
On December 11, five coca grower leaders and three coca
farmers were arrested in an impressive police-military operation,
backed by the Attorney General, in the towns of the Tropic of
Cochabamba.
The coca growers were accused of being connected to the
National Liberation Army (ELN) of Colombia and, specifically, to
Francisco "Pacho" Cortes.
A few hours after the raids, all of them, who were accused of
being "narco-terrorists," regains their liberty because no proof
was presented against them; however, the charges have not
been dropped.
In both actions, organized with the consent of the U.S.
government, the Commercial Media flashed banner headlines
and led news broadcasts announcing the existence of "terrorism
in Bolivia." But nothing, absolutely nothing, has been proved.
More Cases
The arrests don't end there.
In September of 2003, the former coca growers leader and town
councilor of Chimoré, Juana Quispe, was arrested allegedly for
carrying dynamite to be used on an office of the Defender of
Children.
They arrested her, showed her to the press, but no evidence
was offered and later she was freed.
In October of 2003, the coca growers leader Marcelino Jancko
was arrested and accused by the government of carrying
explosives. Today he is held in the prison of San Pedro de La
Paz.
On December 1, 2003, President Carlos Mesa, in his remarks at
the Chapare funeral for a soldier killed by a home-made bomb
known as a "cazabobo," said, "Without a doubt, we are speaking
of terrorism."
Most of the "anti-terrorism" operations were widely reported by
most of the Commercial News Media. But the cases were never
followed or clarified by those media organizations.
According to national Congressman and coca grower leader,
Evo Morales Aima, the United States government has imposed
the much-publicized anti-terrorist campaign as a means to
consolidate its geopolitical dominion over the heart of the Latin
American continent.
Part 2:
http://www.narconews.com/Issue32/article892.html
Terrorists? Or Political Prisoners?
Washington Tries to Destroy the Bolivian Popular Movement
By Alex Contreras Baspineiro
Part I in a Narco News Investigative Series
February 16, 2004
"Years ago they accused us being communists. After that, drug
traffickers. Now they say we're terrorists: But the important thing
is they can't destroy us. We are stronger every day."
- Evo Morales
Congressman and Coca Grower
"Bolivia could become the Afghanistan of the Andes, a failed
government that exports drugs and chaos," wrote former Bolivian
president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, last November 13th, on
the pages of the Washington Post.
The man who is Bolivia's greatest symbol of neoliberal and
imperial politics has that view of the social movements of this
country.
Recall that on October 17, 2003, the men and women of Bolivia,
from the countryside and the city, wrote a page of dignity in
toppling a tyrant known as "Goñi," to reject the current economic
model, to reject that exportation of gas to North American
markets, and to expel a president to the only country that would
take him: the United States.
These are the social movements, their leaders, and
spokesmen, who were accused by the traditional political party
voices and by the U.S. Embassy to be drug trafficking
organizations, subversives, anarcho-syndicalists, and, most
recently, painted as terrorists.
Let's take a look:
The so-called "war on terrorism" that the United States pushed
onto Bolivia was radicalized post-September 11, 2001.
In June of 2002, this country held general elections for president,
vice president, and legislators.
Evo Morales, and the "Movement Toward Socialism" (MAS) party,
and Felipe Quispe and the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement
(MIP) party, were accused, through a millionaire media
campaign, of being financed by "money from terrorism."
In spite of the fact that the then-ambassador of the country to the
North, Manuel Rocha, dared to suggest that Bolivians should not
vote for the coca leader, the response was to the contrary,
because the MAS consolidated itself as the party with the second
highest number of electoral votes in a multi-party field.
Death Threats
Under the banner of a "war on terrorism," George W. Bush
escalated his military intervention throughout the world and,
logically, in Latin America, and still more logically in Bolivia,
because this country, in the heart of the continent, is a
geo-strategic region for imperial goals.
The fight against terrorism has become the greatest pretext to
weaken the sovereignty of nations, to increase the violation of
human rights, to repress social movements, and to block
self-determination by the people.
The U.S. strategy is based on the installation of new military
bases, to back the existing bases, arms trafficking, total control
of drug trafficking, training from U.S. military advisors and the
installation of monitoring and surveillance systems.
The United States, relying on its military might, in the imposition
of plans like Puebla Panama and Colombia, and on the pretext
of the fight against terrorism is trying to "recolonize" our América.
In November of 2002, according to the confesión of a Bolivian
military official, the very same Manuel Rocha, while ambassador,
told the High Military Command of Bolivia, in reference to
Congressman Evo Morales: "I have told you to put the ice on him.
He's already a huge political force."
In January of 2003, a U.S. advisor, in a meeting with civil leaders
of Santa Cruz, told them: "Evo must be eliminated. The MAS
should not participate in the municipal elections because it
would be a catastrophe for the country."
In February of 2003, after popular uprising, a supposed National
Liberation ARMY (ELN), located in an unnamed region with
armed and masked men never appeared.
In March of 2003, the current U.S. Ambassador, David Greanlea,
in an "intelligence report" delivered by the then-Vice (and current)
President Carlos Mesa, said: "Reliable and true information has
been obtained that the Movement Toward Socialism is planning
a military coup d'etat to topple the Bolivian government in April of
this year. The leaders of the MAS party, Evo Morales Aima and
Antonio Peredo Leigue, are the principal architects and the men
responsible for this plan."
In that presumed coup, the coca growers leader would, the
Embassy claimed, be assassinated.
Coordinated Actions
On April 10, 2003, in the city of El Alto of La Paz, a spectacular
and televised "anti-terrorist" police action occurred, arresting the
Colombian human rights and peasant farmers leader Francisco
"Pacho" Cortes, two other coca growers, and two minors of age.
The Special Investigations Center of the State was in charge of
the montage. The testimony of journalists who attended the raid
is that they arrived at the right time and right place to report on
the raid because they had received calls from the U.S. Embassy.
Presented with the evidence, the former assistant Government
Minister, José Luis Harb, did not deny the U.S. involvement in the
operation: "There are treaties, conventions, and joint actions? in
the fight against terrorism? Terrorism is of an extra-continental
nature, and that's why we have agreements of understanding
with any country, not just the United States."
The first accusation by the Bolivian government against the
alleged "terrorist" was that he belonged to the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After that, they tried to
connect him with the National Liberation Army (ELN) of his
country. Then they said he was with illegal groups and activities
connected to drug trafficking.
Ten months into his detention in the Maximum Security Prison of
Chonchocoro in La Paz, nothing has been proved against the
Colombian nor his Bolivian co-defendants Claudio Ramirez
Cuevas (the former mayor of La Asunta) and Carmelo
Peñaranda (coca growers leader of the Chapare): the two
minors were released on their own recognizance.
In September of 2003, during the community resistance by the
Aymara towns of Sorata and Warisata, the presence of
subversive groups on the banks of Lake Titicaca was alleged.
Media Campaigns
Each of these presumed anti-terrorist actions in this country is
accompanied by an enormous media campaign.
On December 4, 2003, a group of 16 people visiting from
Bangladesh were detained in the airport of Santa Cruz, accused
of being "international terrorists."
The arrest happened after an accusation was received by the
French Embassy in Bolivia, from the France International
Terrorism Center (CITF), that the alleged terrorists were going to
hijack an airplane on the La Paz-Santa Cruz-Argentina route in
order to attack U.S. targets: But twenty-four hours later, the
accused were released for lack of evidence.
On December 11, five coca grower leaders and three coca
farmers were arrested in an impressive police-military operation,
backed by the Attorney General, in the towns of the Tropic of
Cochabamba.
The coca growers were accused of being connected to the
National Liberation Army (ELN) of Colombia and, specifically, to
Francisco "Pacho" Cortes.
A few hours after the raids, all of them, who were accused of
being "narco-terrorists," regains their liberty because no proof
was presented against them; however, the charges have not
been dropped.
In both actions, organized with the consent of the U.S.
government, the Commercial Media flashed banner headlines
and led news broadcasts announcing the existence of "terrorism
in Bolivia." But nothing, absolutely nothing, has been proved.
More Cases
The arrests don't end there.
In September of 2003, the former coca growers leader and town
councilor of Chimoré, Juana Quispe, was arrested allegedly for
carrying dynamite to be used on an office of the Defender of
Children.
They arrested her, showed her to the press, but no evidence
was offered and later she was freed.
In October of 2003, the coca growers leader Marcelino Jancko
was arrested and accused by the government of carrying
explosives. Today he is held in the prison of San Pedro de La
Paz.
On December 1, 2003, President Carlos Mesa, in his remarks at
the Chapare funeral for a soldier killed by a home-made bomb
known as a "cazabobo," said, "Without a doubt, we are speaking
of terrorism."
Most of the "anti-terrorism" operations were widely reported by
most of the Commercial News Media. But the cases were never
followed or clarified by those media organizations.
According to national Congressman and coca grower leader,
Evo Morales Aima, the United States government has imposed
the much-publicized anti-terrorist campaign as a means to
consolidate its geopolitical dominion over the heart of the Latin
American continent.
Part 2:
http://www.narconews.com/Issue32/article892.html
.gif)
- By Rich
- By ingliz
- By Unthinking Majority