HOW THE BOLIVIAN MEDIA REPORTED A/S SHANNON'S VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LA PAZ 001671 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2018 TAGS: ASEC BL EAID KPAO PGOV PREL PTER SUBJECT: HOW THE BOLIVIAN MEDIA REPORTED A/S SHANNON'S VISIT Classified By: PAO Denise Urs for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary: A/S Shannon's visit to Bolivia got widespread front page attention. Most media reported the visit as a positive effort to calm tensions in bilateral relations. Media mocked Bolivian President Evo Morales, attempt to show the upper hand with the A/S by setting his meeting at five in the morning, and by repeating yet again his many grievances against the United States, its Embassy in Bolivia and its Ambassador. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Prior to A/S Shannon's arrival in-country, Morales attempted to set the tone for the visit by speaking out publicly against the United States. The day before A/S Shannon arrived, Morales gave a speech in Potosi, in which he said, "Tomorrow at five in the morning I am going to meet with that gringo coming from the United States. I am going to meet with him and I am going to show him the evidence that the United States is propagating a campaign against me, against my government, and, most of all, against the social movements." At a press conference at the presidential palace, Morales added that when the Assistant Secretary arrived, he would "speak with him sincerely about the problems and the acts of conspiracy that we have (previously) denounced." ¶3. (U) Government press outlet ABI,s interpretation of the president's statements, which were reprinted throughout the country, said that the president wanted to speak with A/S Shannon "about the American conspiracy, through USAID, against the Bolivian Government, and also to speak with him about unconditional aid and investment." Morales added that "The dialogue (between the United States and Bolivia) has to be based on mutual respect and no representative can put forth his own agenda unless it is known to our authorities." The press reports then laid out the Bolivian Government's agenda for the meeting, including the return of former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, an extension of ATPDEA benefits, recuperating the Millennium Challenge Account for Bolivia, and putting USAID aid under the Venezuela-backed "Bolivia changes, Evo delivers" campaign. ¶4. (U) Later in the day, Morales attempted to limit the Assistant Secretary's movement in the country. "Bolivia is a sovereign country and any foreign officials who come to visit need to have permission from the national government or from the Foreign Minister (in order to travel throughout the country)." Cocalero union leader, Asterio Romero, clarified: "A representative of the White House cannot come to the Tropics of Cochabamba (the "Chapare" region) without the Government's authorization, in this case the President of the Republic." Since he was referring to the controversial region in which union activists have threatened the lives and property of USAID, he added that the objective of USAID in Bolivia is to "destabilize democracy and the Government." A/S Shannon's subsequent visit to the Chapare received scant commentary. ¶5. (C) Reporting on the meeting itself was divided among pro-Government and anti-Government lines. Pro-Government sources said that during the meeting Morales presented the Assistant Secretary with clear evidence of a USG conspiracy, while anti-Government press pointed to an apparent conflict between the president's asking for less U.S. interference and at the same time asking for a five-year extension of ATPDEA benefits. Radio Fides said that the meeting had only two main points "cooperation and conspiracy," while Santa Cruz daily El Deber quoted former Foreign Minister Armando Loiaza as saying that the Bolivian Government ought to stop the "confrontational approach" and instead move toward "dialogue, diplomacy, and better management." ¶6. (C) Press reports quoted A/S Shannon trying to calm the bilateral tension, deflect accusations, and support the Ambassador (all reported on the Assistant Secretary's comment that "the only conspiracy that is going to exist in our LA PAZ 00001671 002 OF 002 relations will be against poverty, inequality, and social exclusion"),but Bolivian government officials went on the offensive. Bolivian Ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Guzman, said that President Morales had proven the U.S. conspiracy against the Bolivian Government by showing A/S Shannon an e-mail, allegedly from a USAID official. The e-mail, according to Guzman's account, reflected a "curious suggestion" by the Ambassador Goldberg, but he would not go into details. (Note: The "curious suggestion" apparently refers to Ambassador Goldberg's request to meet with indigenous leaders, something Post has done publicly. End note.) Reporters asked how the president got the e-mail and Guzman replied, "I don't know where he got it, but he's got it." That statement became the "quote of the day" in many dailies. ¶7. (U) The next day, when asked to give more details about the e-mail itself, Guzman said that he had been called by the Foreign Minister and told to stop talking about the e-mail. "I have been told by the Foreign Minister very clearly and definitively that I ought to maintain absolute silence (about the matter)," he said. Other Government authorities refused to comment. One editorial comic in La Paz daily La Prensa showed Evo Morales dressed as a teenager sitting in front of a computer saying "I've always been a hacker." ¶8. (U) Guzman also pointed to a letter from the Millennium Challenge Corporation that Morales presented to the Assistant Secretary as evidence. "In this letter is clear evidence of the political interference (in internal Bolivian matters)," he said. ¶9. (U) Editorial response was also split by party affiliation. In an op-ed in La Paz daily La Razon called "The U.S. is Wasting Its Time With His Excellency," former diplomat Manfredo Kempff says, "...the U.S. is wasting its time trying to appease (Morales),simply because Evo Morales has decided, after years of being a cocalero, that the United States is the devil." He adds that the meeting must have been a disaster for the Assistant Secretary starting with Morales, demand for a 5:00 a.m. meeting "made by the Government to humiliate him," and then having to hear a long list of "unproven accusation and absurd demands." ¶10. (U) But Fernando Salazar, a lawyer, writes in La Prensa that the Assistant Secretary's visit "has proven two things: that Morales, strategy, although dangerous, had good results, and that Shannon is not the stereotypical ugly American,." He goes on to say that "(Shannon) has opened the way for a better relation with the U.S. in spite of adverse conditions. After having placed bilateral relations on a different plane than in the past, a more dignified and somewhat more favorable one for Bolivia, the president should now handle himself with more discretion." ¶11. (U) Since all of A/S Shannon's public meetings took place in one day, most media reported on all of the meetings in one article. Although relegated to a paragraph or two in most stories, coverage of A/S Shannon's meeting with Santa Cruz prefect (governor) Ruben Costas was positive. Stories reported that Costas spoke with the Assistant Secretary about the importance of extending ATPDEA benefits and he expressed the gratitude of the people of Santa Cruz for USG assistance in the region. GOLDBERG