NEW VIDEO CASTS DOUBT ON PANDO "MASSACRE"

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 001327

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM PINR BL
SUBJECT: NEW VIDEO CASTS DOUBT ON PANDO "MASSACRE"

REF: 08 LA PAZ 2543

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires John Creamer for reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: On the one-year anniversary of the September
11, 2008 clash in Pando department that left 11 dead, local
opposition groups released new video evidence that casts
doubt on the GOB's version of events. Poloff traveled to the
site of the conflict on September 11 and 12 to interview a
diverse range of local leaders. All agreed the clash was not
-- as the GOB maintains and as Unasur and the UN have
supported in official reports -- a massacre planned by
then-Prefect Leopoldo Fernandez but rather a regrettable
conflict that spun out of control. As Fernandez is the main
opposition party's vice presidential candidate in the
December elections, the release of this information may
hamper GOB attempts to acclerate criminal proceedings against
him. End summary.


2. (C) Cobija Civic Committee President Carballo told Poloff
the Committee worked with journalists (some of whom have been
hiding in Brazil since the government crackdown that followed
the conflict) and opposition groups to compile video evidence
of the events of September 11 and 12, 2008. They reportedly
held the resulting documentary until the one-year anniversary
of the conflict for maximum impact. Widely broadcast on the
news, the documentary dovetails with the statements given by
our sources.


3. (C) Post previously has reported concerns with the
official GOB version of the September 11, 2008 conflict
(reftel),which the Morales administration called an ambush
and a "massacre" implemented by Fernandez against unarmed
campesinos. Subsequently, Unasur, Amnesty International, the
UN, and the GOB's Human Rights Ombudsman published reports
supporting the GOB. However, a variety of sources including
former Cobija Mayor (and Fernandez rival) Miguel "Chiquitin"
Becerra, opposition Senator Paulo Bravo, District Prosecutor
Eloy Aspeti, Civic Committee President Henry Carballo, Pando
Human Rights Ombudsman Edwin Torrez, and Porvenir townspeople
tell a different story: heavily armed local residents
initially tried to prevent violence but were enraged after
campesinos shot and killed two townspeople and took nine
people hostage. The resulting shoot-out, they say, while
regrettable and ultimately one-sided, was not planned.


4. (C) Interviews and video indicate that early on the
morning of September 11, 2008, approximately 1,000 campesinos
from Pando and Beni departments were marching toward the town
of Porvenir from two different directions on their way to
Cobija, the department capital. The marchers were protesting
the opposition's taking of the GOB's land redistribution
office (INRA). Apprised of the situation, then-Prefect
Fernandez ordered workteams to dig two large ditches at
strategic locations to prevent the campesinos from uniting in
Porvenir. (According to Senator Bravo, Fernandez was mindful
of a January 2007 conflict in Cochabamba, in which
GOB-aligned cocaleros burned down the Prefecture and two
people died.) At approximately three a.m., the first group
of campesinos encountered a Prefecture team finishing the
ditch near the town of Filadelfia and shot at them. Two
workers were injured in the shooting and taken to Porvenir
hospital.


5. (SBU) At approximately six a.m., more campesinos arrived
at the other ditch at Tres Barracas, just five minutes from
Porvenir. A group of Porvenir townspeople met the marchers
and told them to turn back. Video exists of this
interchange, where the townspeople warn that the ditch was
dug to prevent violence that could occur if the campesinos
entered Porvenir. The townspeople referenced their
suspicions of the campesinos' motives after hearing of the
two workers' bullet wounds. While these negotiations
continued over two hours, a block of campesinos surrounded
the then-unarmed townspeople, surprised them, and took nine
hostages. The campesinos negotiated the release of the
hostages in return for entry into Porvenir. During this time
period, although it is not captured on video, it appears
prefecture worker Pedro Oshiro was beaten and then killed by
a shot to the head.


6. (C) According to the video, at about 10:00 a.m.,
campesinos were massed on the edge of Porvenir and armed with
guns, dynamite, and teargas. In interviews, townspeople said
the arms were provided by Becerra and by the Mayor of
Filadelfia, a GOB ally. In a tense discussion with Poloff,
Becerra denid the campesinos were armed. He added that he
was no friend of Fernandez's but also not an ally of the GOB,
that both sides were at fault, and that he is considering a
run for the Pando Prefecture in April 2010.


7. (C) Video shows townspeople asking police present to
disarm the marchers before they enter, but the police refused
to disarm either the campesinos or the growing crowd of armed
townspeople. The police, who report to the Ministry of
Government (and not the Prefecture),reportedly requested
instruction and were told not to intervene further. Senator
Bravo said he rented private vehicles to get police to
Porvenir.


8. (C) At about 10:30 a.m., as part of the deal to enter
Porvenir, the campesinos released their hostages. Many had
been beaten and gave interviews to local media detailing
abuse and threats. The last hostage, Alfredo Cespedes, was
killed. His appearance, along with the roughly simultaneous
discovery of Pedro Oshiro's body, seems to have enraged the
residents of Porvenir. From there, large-scale shooting
broke out. During the fighting, nine campesinos were killed,
some as they fled. In video of the firefight, two Filadelfia
municipality trucks catch fire. Large amounts of ammunition
inside the trucks explode, further putting into question the
GOB's assertion that the campesinos were unarmed.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) From post's interviews and from viewing video of the
clash, it seems clear the campesinos were not ambushed by
pro-Fernandez forces, as the GOB and many in the
international community assert. It is, however, difficult to
confirm opposition claims that the exercise was planned by
the GOB to oust Fernandez. It does appear the GOB took
advantage of the violence to arrest Fernandez (who remains in
detention a year later without formal charges even as he
campaigns). We expect the opposition will try to use the
video to delay GOB efforts to accelerate criminal proceedings
against Fernandez before the election. End comment.
CREAMER