GOVERNMENT MINISTER SLAMS USAID

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002387

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2017
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL BL
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT MINISTER SLAMS USAID

REF: A. LA PAZ 2357


B. LA PAZ 2374

Classified By: EcoPol chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana made
an unannounced press briefing, on August 29, in which he
leveled untrue charges against USAID. Quintana presented his
briefing as the government's evidence to substantiate
President Evo Morales' and Vice President Alvaro Garcia
Linera's recent attacks against the U.S. assistance programs
(ref A). With a quaint disregard for the truth, Quintana
spoke for 30 minutes -- complete with a PowerPoint
presentation -- about how USAID's assistance lacks any
transparent, rarely reaches Bolivians, and supports a
conspiracy against the Morales administration. In addition
to disparaging USAID, he threatened USAID's locally engaged
Bolivian staff by warning them not to be "traitors" to their
country. A toxic mixture of several factors are driving the
Bolivian government's latest attacks on the USG: a dedire to
taken away from heightened domestic turmoil led by a growing
opposition, Evo's own distrust of the United States, and
perhaps a radical ideological fringe of his party that wishes
to see U.S. assistance disappear to be replaced by Venezuelan
aid. End Summary.

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USAID Is Unilateral and Ideological )
Little Money Gets to Bolivia
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2. (SBU) Quintana began his presentation by correctly
noting the two modalities of USAID's assistance projects,
bilateral and unilateral aid. He then proceeded to denigrate
our unilateral assistance, stating it is conducted without
contracts, without consultation or Bolivian government
oversight, and without any concern for Bolivia's sovereignty.
Quintana argued that since seventy percent of U.S.
assistance is unilateral, at least seventy percent of U.S.
assistance is not transparent. Quintana commented that the
USG's assistance does not fit the philosophy of the
government's national development plan and showed a lack of
respect for the Bolivian people's desire for change.


3. (SBU) Quintana followed with a break down of how U.S.
assistance dollars are spent, stating that most funds return
to the United States and never actually get spent on
development. The minister explained that forty percent of
assistance goes directly to U.S. NGOs; thirty percent goes to
salaries, travel, per diem and benefits for U.S. employees;
while the remaining thirty percent is what goes to actual
project execution, of which most goes to salaries of
high-level Bolivian contractors. Attempting to boost the
sensationalist nature of the presentation, he then compared
the salaries of U.S employees with that of Bolivian
employees. He claimed the average American earns USD 300,000
annually while a high level Bolivian makes one-fifth to
one-sixth of an American salary, yet Bolivians do the bulk of
assistance work.

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Focus on Democracy Projects
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4. (SBU) Minister Quintana remarked that while USAID has
various programs in country, his presentation would only
highlight USAID's democracy programs, stating the government
would provide information on other programs in the near
future. Quintana correctly identified Chemonics as USAID's
primary contractor for democracy programs, but then charged
Chemonics and other U.S. implementing partners with simply
acting as intermediaries who perform the USG's ideological
bidding. He then identified sixteen separate Bolivian
consultants (USAID subcontractors),who had worked in the
administrations of Jorge Quiroga, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada,
and Carlos Mesa, as evidence of the USG's effort to conspire
against Morales's government.

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The Final Closing Jabs ) Threats to Local USAID Staff
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5. (U) Prior to closing his presentation, Quintana took
several swings at USAID and made veiled threats against
USAID's locally engaged Bolivian staff. Quintana argued that
other governments, European governments, merit Bolivia's full
respect because they obey and respect the will of the
Bolivian people. He continued by stating that Europeans
"always inform" whereas USAID hides information from the
Bolivian government. He then made a faint-hearted plea to
USAID to provide the press information on its programs,
arguing that only through rigorous investigation was the
government able to uncover the facts about USAID. Near the
end of his presentation, Quintana warned USAID's locally
engaged Bolivian staff to remain "loyal to their country",
not to be "traitors" or "sell out their country."

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Comment
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6. (C) Despite our repeated efforts to explain to the
Bolivian government how we execute our programs and calls by
both our governments to resolve questions via diplomatic
channels, senior Bolivian officials continue to attack us in
public for political advantage. As recently as August 28,
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo Fernandez apologized
for the president's and vice president's attacks on our aid
programs (ref B). Several motives appear to drive Minister
Quintana's diatribe against our U.S. assistance programs.
The government finds itself trying to deflect attention away
from a number of domestic political problems. The failing of
the Constituent Assembly and the more energized and growing
opposition that no longer is solely organized in Bolivia's
eastern departments are but two of the challenges the central
government is currently facing. What better way to distract
the public's attention than to attack the United States?
President Morales and his senior advisors may be truly
paranoid of U.S. intentions. We have been told repeatedly by
senior level officials that Evo does not trust the United
States. Finally, some member of President Morales' inner
circle may simply wish to see U.S. assistance go away. This
faction likely believes Caracas will fill the void should
USAID depart. End Comment.
URS