Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08LAPAZ2151
2008-10-03 19:24:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:
EVO'S DEADLINE FOR DIALOGUE, OPPOSITION ARRESTS
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002151
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC BL
SUBJECT: EVO'S DEADLINE FOR DIALOGUE, OPPOSITION ARRESTS
Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 b,d
C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002151
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC BL
SUBJECT: EVO'S DEADLINE FOR DIALOGUE, OPPOSITION ARRESTS
Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 b,d
1. (SBU) President Evo Morales officially announced that
Sunday, October 5 will be the last day of dialogue, while
also saying that arrests of opposition leaders will continue.
During an event in the opposition department of Tarija
(where the arrest of opposition leader Jose Vaca took place
days earlier),Evo declared that he would not accept dialogue
"with conditions" nor let those who "committed crimes escape
with impunity."
2. (C) Press reports suggest that the public prosecutor has a
list of opposition civic leaders who will soon be arrested.
Among these is Tarija civic committee president Reynaldo
Bayard, whom the government accuses of having led a group of
autonomists who took the hydrocarbon plant in Vuelta Grande.
Press reports cite "high level political sources" who say
that Santa Cruz civic committee president Branko Marinkovic
and twenty other autonomists will be targeted for their
alleged participation in the taking of government buildings.
Opposition contacts have told us that the arrest of
high-level Santa Cruz opposition leaders such as Marinkovic
could prompt Crucenos to "take to the streets", and the
potential for violence could increase.
3. (SBU) The Human Rights Foundation-Bolivia announced that
21 Bolivians have been detained by the government in an
"irregular manner" in the past weeks. This number includes
opposition Pando Prefect Leopoldo Fernandez and a number of
prefecture-aligned participants in the Cobija conflict of
September 11. These individuals and a group of Santa Cruz
autonomists appear to have been detained without due process
and many are reportedly being held without access to lawyers.
In the case of Pando police official Mirtha Sosa, medical
examinations reportedly show evidence of excessive force
(Sosa herself has denounced the government for what she
described as torture, death threats, and threats of sexual
assault.)
4. (C) Comment: President Morales is using strong-arm
tactics as he tires of the stalled negotiations and as the
procedural deadline for a January constitutional referendum
draws near. Both the opposition and the government have
always treated the current negotiations as a public relations
game, displaying supposed willingness to negotiate in front
of international observers while waiting for the other side
to be the first to leave the table. With these attacks on
opposition leaders and Evo's unilateral statement that
negotiations will end on October 5, Evo appears to be pushing
the opposition to break off dialogue. Most of the
international observers are unwilling to pronounce judgment
against the democratically-elected government, and therefore
the strategy is likely to be win-win for Evo: his enemies end
up in jail, and the opposition is seen to abandon
negotiations. Evo is still calling for a siege of the
congress on October 15; if successful, that tactic will
provide him with a referendum on the constitution on January
25. End comment.
URS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC BL
SUBJECT: EVO'S DEADLINE FOR DIALOGUE, OPPOSITION ARRESTS
Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 b,d
1. (SBU) President Evo Morales officially announced that
Sunday, October 5 will be the last day of dialogue, while
also saying that arrests of opposition leaders will continue.
During an event in the opposition department of Tarija
(where the arrest of opposition leader Jose Vaca took place
days earlier),Evo declared that he would not accept dialogue
"with conditions" nor let those who "committed crimes escape
with impunity."
2. (C) Press reports suggest that the public prosecutor has a
list of opposition civic leaders who will soon be arrested.
Among these is Tarija civic committee president Reynaldo
Bayard, whom the government accuses of having led a group of
autonomists who took the hydrocarbon plant in Vuelta Grande.
Press reports cite "high level political sources" who say
that Santa Cruz civic committee president Branko Marinkovic
and twenty other autonomists will be targeted for their
alleged participation in the taking of government buildings.
Opposition contacts have told us that the arrest of
high-level Santa Cruz opposition leaders such as Marinkovic
could prompt Crucenos to "take to the streets", and the
potential for violence could increase.
3. (SBU) The Human Rights Foundation-Bolivia announced that
21 Bolivians have been detained by the government in an
"irregular manner" in the past weeks. This number includes
opposition Pando Prefect Leopoldo Fernandez and a number of
prefecture-aligned participants in the Cobija conflict of
September 11. These individuals and a group of Santa Cruz
autonomists appear to have been detained without due process
and many are reportedly being held without access to lawyers.
In the case of Pando police official Mirtha Sosa, medical
examinations reportedly show evidence of excessive force
(Sosa herself has denounced the government for what she
described as torture, death threats, and threats of sexual
assault.)
4. (C) Comment: President Morales is using strong-arm
tactics as he tires of the stalled negotiations and as the
procedural deadline for a January constitutional referendum
draws near. Both the opposition and the government have
always treated the current negotiations as a public relations
game, displaying supposed willingness to negotiate in front
of international observers while waiting for the other side
to be the first to leave the table. With these attacks on
opposition leaders and Evo's unilateral statement that
negotiations will end on October 5, Evo appears to be pushing
the opposition to break off dialogue. Most of the
international observers are unwilling to pronounce judgment
against the democratically-elected government, and therefore
the strategy is likely to be win-win for Evo: his enemies end
up in jail, and the opposition is seen to abandon
negotiations. Evo is still calling for a siege of the
congress on October 15; if successful, that tactic will
provide him with a referendum on the constitution on January
25. End comment.
URS