BOLIVIA: MUTED REACTION TO USG STATEMENTS

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000117

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL BL
SUBJECT: BOLIVIA: MUTED REACTION TO USG STATEMENTS

REF: LA PAZ 93


1. (U) Summary: President Evo Morales used a substantial
portion of his January 22 state of the union address (marking
the beginning of his fourth year in power) to repeat baseless
attacks on the USG, forcing Charge to leave the speech early
(reftel). After leaving the event, Charge spoke with the
press, emphasizing the need for mutual respect and describing
Morales attacks as unfounded and intolerable. Public
reaction to Charge's statement has thus far been minimal: on
January 25 Bolivia held a referendum on a new constitution,
distracting attention from the bilateral interchange.
Immediately after the Charge's statement, however, some
public figures did comment, either supporting or attacking
the Charge's statement. Newspaper editorials and opinion
articles have generally taken an explanatory tone, describing
the role of career diplomats in the USG and questioning how
President Morales can expect better relations with the Obama
Administration when he continues to attack the USG. Morales
reacted positively to the State Department's congratulations
on the referendum. End summary.

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Morales's Team Defends Him, Criticizes Charge
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2. (U) Defense Minister Walker San Miguel attempted to defend
Morales's attacks, saying that the speech had only been a
recounting of past actions and "wasn't aggressive."
Presidential spokesman Ivan Canelas criticized the Charge's
statement as "not very diplomatic" while describing it as "an
understandable attitude" because the Charge "is a functionary
of the Bush government in the United States" and because "he
worked with Ambassador Goldberg."

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Diplomacy 101
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3. (U) Analysts and politicians attempted to explain the role
of career diplomats in the U.S. Foreign Service after
Canelas' statements. As explained by Radio Fides commentator
Nicolas Sanabria: "Krishna Urs will stay with Obama...he can
stay with the next government because that is what the
Americans have achieved. It's not like in a country where
diplomats are all appointed, so if a government leaves, the
diplomat also has to leave...Krishna Urs doesn't represent
the government of Bush, he represents the U.S. people. Just
to clarify...because sometimes someone speaks without
knowing. They thought that they were attacking Goldberg, the
Bush government, but nevertheless, Urs represents Barack
Obama." PODEMOS senator and President of the Senate's
Foreign Relations Committee Tito Hoz de Vila clarified,
"Diplomats do not represent governments, but rather the
State...in developed democracies such as the United States,
Europe, or even neighboring countries such as Brazil and
Chile, career diplomats are not representatives of the
President's political party."

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Opposition Laments Increasing Isolation
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4. (U) Opposition PODEMOS congressman Bernardo Montenegro
lamented Morales' attacks: "Unfortunately the President
(Morales) as usual makes irrational and poor declarations.
The things he said about the United States were totally
uncalled for and prove that we are becoming increasingly
isolated...in a few months Bolivia will only have a few
friends left in the world and those will be terrorist
countries such as Iran, Libya, and Venezuela." President of
the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee Tito Hoz de Vila
remarked on January 22 that in one day, the government had
made a complete about face: "Yesterday, the Foreign Minister
and the government said that they want to improve relations
with the United States and today they attack it...What the
government has now done after President (Morales)'s remarks
is bury their previous statements. Yesterday they said they
wanted to improve relations, and today they are slinging mud."

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Morales "Encouraged" By State Department Statement
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5. (U) Leading dailies published the official State
Department congratulations regarding Bolivia's peaceful
January 25 constitutional referendum. In an interview with a
Cuban state television program, President Morales expressed
his approval: "I feel that the message of the new
president--Barack Obama--of the new U.S government is
encouraging. We hope that that message permits respect for
the will of the people and also the deepening of democracy,
as we are doing in Bolivia." In a Bolivian radio interview,
Internal Trade Vice Minister Pablo Guzman announced that "one
of the most important objectives of our conversations with
the United States will be the interchange of ambassadors,
possibly in the next months." La Paz daily La Razon pointed
out that these bilateral interchanges come less than five
months after Morales expelled Ambassador Goldberg.
URS