"CONSPIRACY" PHOTO WORTH 1000 WORDS TO EVO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 003002 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2017 TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL BL SUBJECT: "CONSPIRACY" PHOTO WORTH 1000 WORDS TO EVO REF: LA PAZ 2949 Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4b,d. ¶1. (C) President Evo Morales used his speech at the seventeenth Ibero-American Summit as another opportunity to accuse the USG of conspiracy against Evo's government. As "evidence", Evo again displayed a copy of a photo taken a a trade fair in September, showing the Ambassador with the head of the Santa Cruz trade organization and a passer-by who has since been identified as an alleged Colombian criminal. Evo claimed that the man in the photo, Jhon Jairo Banegas, was a Colombian paramilitary. Reportedly, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia requested information on the case at the summit, and the Bolivian government has promised to provide copies of their "investigation" and of the photograph. Colombian Ambassador to Bolivia Edgar Papamija has publicly stated that Banegas has no prior record in Colombia, which prompted Government Minister Rada to warn Papamija of "grave consequences." ¶2. (C) Morales again suggested that "While we are betting to change Bolivia...there are some small groups of the oligarchy who conspire in direct alliance with the representative of the government of the United States." Morales went on to describe the photograph as evidence of "an open conspiracy." Morales claimed that while it might be easy to get close enough to King Juan Carlos of Spain to take photos, "with the ambassador of the United States in Bolivia it is impossible, no one can get close, and therefore a photograph with a Colombian paramilitary is inconceivable (without conspiracy)." (Note: Evo's reference to the photo and the king of Spain prompted Spanish President Zapatero to turn, smile and wink at the king.) Morales then recited the alleged criminal history of Banegas, including assaults and killings, while adding, "I want to comment to you all that a North American brought in 500 bullets" (Note: referring to the instance in July in which a friend of the La Paz milgroup commander attempted to legally bring in bullets for practice shooting. The Amcit was released by a judge who found she had not acted in violation of any Bolivian law. End note.) ¶3. (C) Comment: Evo's decision to raise this manufactured "plot" against him in an international forum suggests that his campaign of anti-U.S. rhetoric will continue and may escalate. While we believe that Evo Morales genuinely suspects the USG is conspiring against him, this very public reiteration of false accusations suggests that Evo is trying to draw attention away from an emerging crisis in Bolivia. Evo has called for civic groups aligned with his Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party to march on Sucre this week in defense of the Constituent Assembly. Evo's rhetoric regarding the USG may be an attempt to distract attention away from MAS actions in Sucre or preemptively find a scapegoat in case violence breaks out between his followers and protesters in Sucre. End comment. GOLDBERG