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

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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