Is a U.S.-Approved Coup Under Way in Bolivia?

By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet. Posted September 23, 2008.

On Monday, Sept. 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in Bolivia. Upon his arrival, Morales said, "I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d'etat by governors in some Bolivian states in recent days. This is a coup in the past few days by the leaders of some provinces, with the takeover of some institutions, the sacking and robbery of some government institutions and attempts to assault the national police and the armed forces."

Morales was arriving from his country, where the smoke was still rising from a week of right-wing government opposition violence that left the nation paralyzed, at least 30 people dead, and businesses, government and human rights buildings destroyed.

During the same week, Morales declared Philip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador in Bolivia, a "persona non grata" for "conspiring against democracy" and for his ties to the Bolivian opposition. The recent conflict in Bolivia and the subsequent meeting of presidents raise the questions: What led to this meltdown? Whose side is the Bolivian military on? And what does the Bolivian crisis and regional reaction tell us about the new power bloc of South American nations?

Massacre in Pando

On Sept. 11, in the tropical Bolivian department of Pando, which borders Brazil and Peru, a thousand pro-Morales men, women and children were heading toward Cobija, the department's capital, to protest the right-wing Gov. Leopoldo Fernández and his thugs' takeover of the city and airport.

According to press reports and eyewitness accounts, when the protesters arrived at a bridge 7 kilometers outside the town of Porvenir, they were ambushed by assassins hired and trained by Fernández. Snipers in the treetops shot down on the unarmed campesinos. Shirley Segovia, a Porvenir resident, recalled to Bolpress, "We were killed like pigs, with machine guns, with rifles, with shotguns, with revolvers. The campesinos had only brought their teeth, clubs and slingshots, they didn't bring rifles. After the first shots, some fled to the river Tahuamanu, but they were followed and shot at." Others reported being tortured; days later the death toll rose to 30, with dozens wounded and more than 100 still missing. Roberto Tito, a farmer who was present at the conflict, said, "This was a massacre of farmers; this is something that we should not allow."

In 2006, Fernández, who denies orchestrating this violence, was denounced by then Government Minister Alicia Muñoz, who said the governor was training at least 100 paramilitaries as a "citizen's protection" force. These paramilitaries are believed to have participated in the massacre. Fernández is one of the opposition governors who form part of the National Democratic Council (CONALDE), an organization that includes governors from Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija and Chuquisaca and who are organizing for departmental autonomy against the Morales government and his administration's redistribution of land and natural gas wealth, and other socialistic policies.

After the massacre, Morales declared a state of siege in Pando and sent in the military, and by Sept. 15 a tense peace had reportedly returned to the region. Morales also called for the arrest of Fernández, who fled across the border into rural Brazil. (Fernández has since been arrested and taken to the Bolivian capital.)

This massacre took place just weeks after an Aug. 10 national recall vote invigorated Morales' mandate: He won 67 percent support nationwide, showing that his staunch, violent opponents are clearly in the minority. In Pando, Morales won 53 percent of the vote, an increase of 32 percent from the 21 percent he received from Pando residents during the presidential election in 2005.

A few key political developments led to this recent increase in regional tension. On Aug. 28, Morales announced a presidential decree establishing a Dec. 7 referendum on the constitution, which was rewritten and passed in a constituent assembly in December 2007. On Sept. 2 of this year, the electoral court said it opposed the referendum because it had to first be passed by Congress and the opposition-controlled Senate. The debate revived existing conflicts, and opposition leaders began to block major roads and seized an airport in Cobija on Sept. 5.

The days leading up to the Sept. 11 massacre in Pando were full of anti-government protesters ransacking businesses and human rights organizations across the country. On Sept. 10, an explosion reportedly set off by opposition groups disrupted the flow of gas lines to Brazil from Tarija, Bolivia.

U.S. Ambassadors Expelled

Following these tumultuous events, Morales demanded that Goldberg, the US. ambassador, leave the country. "Without fear of anyone, without fear of the empire, today before you, before the Bolivian people, I declare the ambassador of the United States persona non grata," Morales said. "The ambassador of the United States is conspiring against democracy and wants Bolivia to break apart."

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Benjamin Dangl is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007) and edits the international news Web site TowardFreedom.com.

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