EVO NAMES EMBOFF AS CIA; TARGETS "TRAITORS"

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000305 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2019 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PTER PINR PROP EMIN EPET EINV MASS, ODIP, SNAR, KJUS, KREC, KTIA, BL SUBJECT: EVO NAMES EMBOFF AS CIA; TARGETS "TRAITORS" REF: A. LA PAZ 294 ¶B. LA PAZ 247 Classified By: A/EcoPol Chief Brian Quigley for reasons 1.4 (b)(d) ¶1. (C) Summary/Comment: Bolivian President Evo Morales named EmbOff Francisco "Frank" Martinez as a "Mexican infiltrator" while sharing his vision of a vast CIA network that permeates all sectors of Bolivian government and social groups February ¶26. Morales' message was clear: Martinez is a CIA agent and the CIA is up to no good in Bolivia. However, per the Hugo Chavez playbook, Morales made few direct, concrete accusations (that he might be asked to prove). Instead Morales provided a litany of non sequiturs as answers to rhetorical questions: "Who is Frank Martinez?" "What is the CIA?" "What are the goals of the CIA?" Morales emphasized the corruption in his government is the fault of "neoliberalism" and neoliberalism's chief proponent in the world: the CIA. ¶2. (C) Morales also called any uniformed Bolivian or civil servant "who sells information" to foreigners "traitors," and promised to bring them to justice. Morales' characterization of U.S.-sponsored training as nefarious USG subterfuge track with recent training bans from the police and military (reftel a) and makes it more difficult Embassy-wide to recruit candidates for any of our exchange or training programs. End Summary/Comment. ¶3. (C) Relevant portions of Morales address to graduating police academy cadets February 25 follows. Please note Post has inserted revisions to clarify Morales' intent sparingly, so there are some sections that will seem incoherent or incomplete. Neoliberalism/CIA Root of Bolivian Corruption/All Evil -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) "I told you at some moment that corruption is the worst enemy of the Bolivian people, jointly with neoliberalist policies. I feel we have contributed in combating corruption in the national government, but also to put an end to neoliberalism. The hallmark of neoliberalism (in Bolivia) was to permanently take out our natural resources. The privatization of basic services (was also turned back) little by little thanks to the conscious of the Bolivian people to stop these neoliberal policies ... The corruption is felt like a right of the colonial state for which we must start to decolonize ourselves. Corruption feels sometimes like part of a culture of misery, I understand perfectly, therefore, that one has to stop poverty, the extreme poverty. The leaders of state institutions are obliged to combat the subject of corruption. But, also, recently, thanks to some patriotic police, under an investigation we have detected the infiltration of the North American CIA in the structure of the state." "What is the CIA?" -------------- "What is the CIA? It is a secret intelligence agency of the United States. And, what does the CIA aim to do? To defend and protect the capitalist system, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. And, in order to protect the capitalist system, what does (the CIA) have to do? Investigation in the entire world, buying information first hand about governments, about institutions, about social organizations and above all having the information in order to undertake undercover operations against institutions, against governments that are not part of the capitalist system, (which is) so savage, so inhuman. This is a system that brings poverty, takes our natural resources, and leads to financial crisis. A product of capitalism, the financial crisis, the crisis of food, energy, that sometimes we, the poor, have to pay (for) this type of policies. As they have to protect capitalism from all its enemies ... the CIA has the task of (figuring out) how to terminate the enemies of capitalism." Evo "Respecting the Truth:" U.S. Training Equals Conspiracy -------------- -------------- "And, truthfully, I was surprised after a small investigation concerning an ex-police officer (reftel a) ... (who) with the money of the Bolivian people was trained to defend, to serve the Bolivian people. This ex-Captain, Abraham Rodrigo Carrasco, according to the investigation, after graduating from (the police academy),after becoming part of the national police in 1990, ... after less than six months (serving as a policeman),from 1990 to 2004. ... (He) took courses, took training seminars (Comment: Within this rambling, Morales appears to be alleging Carrasco's USG course work was CIA training to spy on Bolivia. End Comment). Of course, all officials, whether they are police or military, have the right to (receive) training domestically or abroad, (but) I can be certain that no general has taken 21 training courses: two in Bolivia, financed by the U.S. Embassy, one in Panama, another in England, another in Argentina, and the rest (16 by Morales' math) in the United States. What officer in the police can have similar privileges (to have) 21 training courses in subjects of security, of intelligence, of politics, economics in the United States? Additionally, after submitting himself to a polygraph test to serve the CIA, how can anyone refute that this Captain, ex-Caption of the national police is not from the CIA, that he did not infiltrate state structures for the CIA only lacks a respect for the truth in our country." Dreaming of Infiltrators and Public Service -------------- "If some official of the U.S. Embassy says there is no infiltration, then tell me publicly who is Franciso Martinez? A Mexican that comes and goes to and from Bolivia. Tell me with whom he is in contact. We are not sleeping." (I want) to tell the representatives of the U.S. Embassy that we know exactly what you want. Clearly we are a government that serves the people, we are working for all the Bolivian people, but especially for the people that need us, that need the state institutions. Lamentably, this class of officials or ex-officials sometimes is to blame for maligning the dignity of the national police." Open Season on "Traitors" -------------- "But also an experience. I want to salute the commanders and ex-commanders of the special force for fight against narco-trafficking (FELCN) (because) without the participation of the DEA we are improving the fight against narco-trafficking in Bolivia, thanks to these special police in the fight against narco-trafficking and their commanders. ... if any member of the police or the military or civilian agent that sells information to secret intelligence agencies, whether they be from the United States, like the CIA or of the DEA or other international agencies from my personal perspective, please excuse me, he is a traitor to his motherland. Information that the Bolivian people have, internal problems, whether they be of a political, social, economic character, no Bolivian uniformed or non-uniformed (civilian) can sell this information to international agencies." Traitors Can Run, And They Can Hide (in U.S.) -------------- "With much respect to our commanders of the national police, control of internal affairs is important. .... (I want) to salute some civilian brothers, some journalists, some Bolivians that understand how international agencies infiltrate to conspire, provoke, attack. And let us not forget how in Guatemala, in Chile, in some other countries, those international secret agencies perpetrated coups, attacks, and after those attacks they escape to the United States to protect themselves." Motherland First; Courses to Damage Bolivian Dignity Last -------------- -------------- "We hope that Bolivian justice will prosecute the traitors of the motherland that infiltrate the governmental structures exclusively to create problems, internal conflicts. Of course, they studied to do that. They took courses to do that. And this is why I want to take advantage of this anniversary of this institution, (to tell) the new generations of national police, the new police cadets, (and) the armed forces (that they should have) much patriotism to defend the motherland. Their are authorities, organizations, institutions, social movements (that should know) that the motherland is first and it is not possible that some people, on behalf of an institution ... try to damage the dignity of an institution and that of the Bolivian people." End Morales Remarks. URS