BOLIVIAN AUTONOMY LEADER FINDS SYMPATHETIC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUAYAQUIL 000330

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV EC
SUBJECT: BOLIVIAN AUTONOMY LEADER FINDS SYMPATHETIC
AUDIENCE IN GUAYAQUIL

REF: GUAYAQUIL 00257


1. (U) Summary. Santa Cruz Bolivia autonomy leader,
Ruben Costas, was one of a number of speakers at a day
long leadership conference sponsored by the large,
influential and politically active Guayaquil Chamber of
Commerce. His views on autonomy resonated in Guayaquil,
which is advancing its own view of autonomy in Ecuador
(reftel). End summary.


2. (U) On 3 March PolOff and PolAsst attended a
presentation by Bolivian autonomy leader Ruben Costas,
sponsored by the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce. To a
packed audience (estimated at 750 by the Chamber's
Executive Vice President),and with four giant television
screens simultaneously broadcasting his speech to all
corners of the Hilton's largest salon, Costas expanded on
the benefits of autonomy and its history in his province
of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Autonomy is not about separatism
he declared, it is about optimism and is a symbol of
solidarity. Though he did not take any questions from
the audience, Costas did end his presentation with a 10-
minute `inspirational' film documenting the Santa Cruz
autonomy movement.


3. (U) Costas described decentralization efforts as
having been attempted over the last 15-20 years in
Bolivia, but without much success because of a lack of
decentralization of resources to support re-directed
responsibilities. Water, sewage, and other public
services remain highly centralized he stated. Costas
depicted centralism as an insatiable monster that retards
democracy and promotes partidocracia (where political
parties focus on self-promotion rather than the good of
their constituents). La Paz, he added, is a much smaller
city than Santa Cruz, but because it is the seat of the
central government, it receives significantly more
resources. For example, though Santa Cruz has a much
larger population, only 2,500 police officers are
assigned to it, as compared to the 13,000 strong force in
La Paz.


4. (U) Costas was quick to point out that autonomy --
which he described as political, economic, and
administrative decentralization -- would not divide the
country, and noted that he was not part of a political
party interested only in furthering a political platform.
Rather, he sees autonomy as a way to bring democracy to
the people. After a failed attempt to mobilize one in
2002, Costas and his colleagues are preparing a
referendum to demand greater autonomy in Santa Cruz.
They have named a committee to work with the central
government, and he predicts they will acquire full
autonomy by 2010.


5. (U) With regard to the actions of groups in El Alto,
he stated that he was not in favor of their maneuvering
to depose President Sanchez de Lozada, describing their
make-up as fundamentalists who do not represent the
majority of Bolivians. His group, Costas countered,
prefers to follow the country's constitution. On 28
January 2005, his autonomy assembly gathered tens of
thousands of people to demand greater autonomy for Santa
Cruz. He also claimed the assembly has collected
approximately 500,000 signatures in a document demanding
self-rule from the Congress. This is evidence of a much
broader backing, he emphasized, than the 15,000
supporters of the El Alto movement.


6. (U) Costas concluded by stating that Santa Cruz and
Guayaquil are leading individual movements within their
respective countries, but also leading the way for all of
South America. The full to capacity room responded with
a standing ovation.


7. (SBU) Comment: The Chamber of Commerce's sponsorship
of Costas' presentation demonstrates that it is not just
local government leaders who are pushing ahead with calls
for autonomy in Guayaquil (reftel). Costas' speech was
one presentation in a daylong conference on leadership,
attended largely by young and upcoming members of
Guayaquil's business community and paid for by well-known
private companies. While in town, Costas also met with
Guayaquil mayor Jamie Nebot and gave interviews to
several leading newspapers. In a radio interview, Nebot
emphasized that Guayaquil is far ahead of Santa Cruz in
terms of gaining autonomy, but PolOff contacts say the
two men found much common ground and plan to follow each
other's work. End Comment.



HERBERT