BOLIVIA: MORALES AND JUDICIARY FACE OFF

UNCLAS LA PAZ 001062 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI PHUM USAID BL SUBJECT: BOLIVIA: MORALES AND JUDICIARY FACE OFF ¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Morales has accused key actors in the judicial sector of protecting "sacred cows" and resisting the process of political change. In response, key representatives of the justice sector have accused the President of interfering with and politicizing justice. Although long subject to political influences, the Bolivian judiciary's fragile independence could be further eroded by the current government's targeted assault. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Relations between the executive and judiciary have deteriorated over the past weeks, with representatives of both branches of government trading barbs and accusations in the media. The strains began at the outset of the MAS party's assumption of power. President Morales' plan to cut all government salaries (now implemented),including in the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, was widely seen as a ploy to pack the courts (and other parts of government) with MAS party sympathizers. So far three justices have resigned -- two from the Supreme Court (including former President Eduardo Rodriguez) and one from the Constitutional Tribunal. There are rumors of more resignations on the way. ¶3. (SBU) Intra-branch relations worsened when the Constitutional Tribunal agreed to consider a petition, presented by executives of Lloyd Aero Boliviano (LAB), seeking to nullify the government's partial intervention of the bankrupt airline. President Morales and Minister of the Presidency Ramon de la Quintana publicly attacked the Tribunal's move as "political." (Note: Ironically, the Tribunal later ruled substantively against the LAB executives' petition. End Note.) The Tribunal publicly responded that it was acting on strictly legal grounds and that government interference would not be tolerated. Since that time, tensions have continued to escalate. During Easter weekend, Morales upped the ante, publicly declaring that certain "sacred cows of Bolivia's justice are resisting the process of political change." In a troubling signal, Morales further warned that the Constituent Assembly represented a kind of deadline for those in the judiciary to join the program or be cast out of their positions. ¶4. (SBU) Key judicial representatives have fought back. In response to Morales' latest assault, the President and Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Magistrates of the Constitutional Tribunal, members of the Council of Jurisprudence, the President and Justices of the National Agricultural Tribunal and the Presidents of the Superior Courts of Bolivia all signed a public communiqu outlining their growing concerns about executive encroachment on judicial independence and vigorously defending the judicial system from the public attacks against it. The communiqu underscored, inter alia, the critical role of an independent judiciary in preserving democracy. On April 18, a small demonstration in defense of judicial independence was held in Sucre, Bolivia's formal capital and the seat of the country's judicial power. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Bolivia's judiciary has long been a weak link in the country's democratic system, in large part due to the political influences that have shaped its make-up and decisions. For example, key judicial representatives -- including in the Supreme Court and Constitutional Tribunal -- were mostly appointed by political parties via the infamous "cuoteo" method (positions were apportioned according to the percentage of votes that parties received). That said, many observers believed the institutionalization of the judiciary in Bolivia was improving as democratic values increasingly took hold and democratic structures began to throw down roots. To many observers, these gains appear increasingly under assault. End comment. GREENLEE