Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LAPAZ2031
2007-07-25 00:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:  

GOB CREATES NEW "INCIDENT" TO DISCREDIT USG

Tags:  PGOV PREL ECON BL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #2031/01 2060020
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 250020Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4443
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6953
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4307
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8193
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5437
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2664
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 2839
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4743
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 5298
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 9905
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0431
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002031 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: GOB CREATES NEW "INCIDENT" TO DISCREDIT USG

REF: LA PAZ 1862

Classified By: Ecopol Counselor Andrew Erickson
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002031

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: GOB CREATES NEW "INCIDENT" TO DISCREDIT USG

REF: LA PAZ 1862

Classified By: Ecopol Counselor Andrew Erickson
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) On July 24, the Vice Minister of Culture Pablo Groux
and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo Fernandez held a
news conference alleging an Emboff had attempted to illegally
export Bolivian cultural patrimony. The facts do not reflect
the accusations. Graham Alexander, Deputy for the Office of
Regional Affairs (ORA),followed the legal requirements for
the shipment of 37 vintage firearms. Nonetheless, Groux
claimed in a tendentious press conference that Alexander had
not done any of the necessary paperwork to get permission to
export the items. Fernandez then incorrectly claimed that it
was only by "accident" that customs discovered the shipment,
when the "discovery" was the consequence of Alexander's
requesting permission to export them. In fact, Alexander,
via his freight forwarder, followed the law and notified the
Bolivian authorities of his intent to ship the items when he
requested his export authorization. As with the Dinh affair
(reftel) and recent statements by President Morales and his
cabinet calling into question U.S. police in Bolivia, this
incident represents and another obvious attempt by the GOB to
publicly disparage the Embassy and to discredit the USG in
general. End Summary.

--------------
The Facts
--------------


2. (C) Graham Alexander, Deputy for the ORA, who is departing
post August 2, followed legal requirements for the shipment
of 37 vintage firearms. Of the 37 items, 10 belonged to
Alexander who acquired them from reputable antique dealers in
Bolivia. The remaining 27 were acquired by his predecessor,
who purchased them from legal merchants and private
individuals. All but four of the weapons were of U.S.
manufacture; there was also a British and three Czech vintage
arms. The items dated from 1873 to approximately 1910.
Recognizing that he could not ship the items with his normal
household effects, Alexander privately contracted Carlos
Meave, a reputable freight forwarder (an Embassy vendor),to

handle the shipment.


3. (C) According to Bolivian law, to export antiquities a
shipment requires authorization from the national police,
customs and the Vice Ministry of Culture (VMOC). While the
authorizations were being obtained, the shipment was stored
in a bonded warehouse at the El Alto international airport,
which Meave arranged. The items remained secured in the
bonded warehouse while each GOB agency considered the
request. Meave always had a complete manifest of the items
for the authorities' inspection. The police reviewed the
request and granted their authorization.

--------------
The Chronology
--------------


4. (SBU) Below is a day-by-day chronology of events. Each
event has supporting documentation.

July 9
Meave reviewed the shipment and noted the vintage rifles.
The items were boxed up.

July 12
The shipment was taken to customs, weighed, assigned an
airway bill and was stored in the bonded warehouse (where it
remained until July 19). The shipper filled out an export
authorization request with the ministry of foreign affairs
(MFA). The MFA advised Meave to take his request to VMOC.

July 13
Meave visited the ministry of government's legal department.
The legal department commented that it did not have these
rifles on its registry, but instructed Meave to check with
the police's registry department. Meave went to the police
registry and the police stamped the airway bill indicating
that it had no derogatory information regarding the items.

July 16
Meaves spoke with customs officials who instructed him to
send a letter to their legal (norms) office outlining the
specific contents of the shipment and requesting permission
to export.

July 17
Meave delivered the letter to customs. A customs official
stamped the letter indicating that customs had received it.

July 18
Meave met the VMOC's Lupe Meneses, the national director for
cataloging antiquities, to discuss the contents of the
shipment. Meneses indicated that she would send inspectors
to review the shipment.

July 19
VMOC inspectors went the warehouse, reviewed the shipment and
photographed each item. Later that day Alexander and Meave
met with the VMOC's Lupe Meneses who told them that the
rifles are considered Bolivia's cultural patrimony and
therefore must stay in the country. Alexander explained that
he understood and supported the VMOC's position and would not
export the items. Alexander then explained USG efforts in
combating trafficking in patrimonial items and the two
discussed sending the items to a mutually agreed upon museum.
The crates were returned to Alexander's house, where they
are currently located. Meneses explained that Alexander
still had ownership of the items and that he could resell
them in Bolivia.

June 24
The Embassy received a diplomatic from the GOB stating that
it had received Alexander's request to export the rifles but
that the request was denied for reasons of cultural
patrimony. The note also stated that the VMOC and other
authorities would investigate the provenance of the
collection.

--------------
The GOB Spin to Discredit the USG
--------------


5. (SBU) On July 24, at the same hour that the Embassy
received the MFA's diplomatic note, the Vice Minister of
Culture Pablo Groux and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo
Fernandez held a news conference denouncing Alexander for
attempting to illegally export Bolivia's cultural patrimony.
The government television news channel, during its midday
program, broadcast excerpts from the news conference and
showed pictures of the items -- the pictures that the VMOC
took on July 19. An electronic version of the news
conference is available at:
http://lapaz.state.gov/ECOPOL/ECOPOL.html


6. (SBU) During the news conference Groux, using Alexander's
full name and diplomatic rank, announced that Alexander had
not done the necessary paperwork to get permission to export
the items. Groux stated, "It is worth noting . . . the
initial intention of bypassing the customs bureau office at
El Alto airport without previously attempting to follow
procedures to obtain authorization from the Bolivian state.
Second, I want to underscore the responsibility of our
customs officials who prevented this shipment from
happening." (Note: As explained in paragraph 3, Bolivian
customs was advised in writing of the contents of the
shipment on July 17. End Note).


7. (C) More egregiously, vice foreign minister Hugo Fernandez
used the same press conference to bash the behavior and
motive of U.S. diplomatic officials in Bolivia, arguing that
this was a concrete manifestation of U.S. arrogance vis-a-vis
Bolivian law. Fernandez stated, "This is a case that was
discovered accidentally . . . We do not want to make
generalizations, but this case shows -- only a few days after
another case involving someone (the Dinh affair) from the
same diplomatic mission -- that the laws of our country are
not valid enough for them." The facts are far afield of
Fernandez's claims. Alexander, via his freight forwarder,
notified the three Bolivian agencies responsible for granting
export authorization. Pretending that the items were
discovered by accident and that Alexander was trying to avoid
Bolivian law is patently false.

--------------
Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) As with the Dinh affair, this incident represents
another attempt by the GOB to publicly discredit an Emboff
and more importantly to disparage the Embassy and the USG in
general. Disturbingly, today's allegations seem a deliberate
attempt to create an incident where there was none before.
They follow a weekend of false allegations by President
Morales and the Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon
Quintana regarding U.S. assistance. (Septel) Morales
publicly claimed that the United States no longer ships wheat
to Bolivia because of our biofuels initiative. (We still do
ship wheat under PL-480.) Minister Quintana separately and
publicly argued that U.S. assistance lacks transparency,
despite the Embassy's constant dialogue with the GOB on our
work. In the final analysis, it seems that the GOB is
actively seeking confrontation -- even when only the smallest
of pretexts are available. End Comment.
GOLDBERG