US To Bolivia: “Elect Who we tell you to”

The United States government is actively intervening in Bolivia’s choice of new president next month, warning that US aid will be withdrawn if the socialist Evo Morales is appointed. It is the latest in a series of recent interventions by the US in Latin American elections in an attempt to keep leftwing politicians from power.


source: http://www.zmag.org/Znn/bolivian.htm

US TO BOLIVIANS: Don’t Elect Morales!

Duncan Campbell reports

Congress will elect the president from the two leading candidates in the elections of two weeks ago: Mr Morales and the rightwing ex-president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

Otto Reich, the Cuban-American appointed by President George Bush as his assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, warned that American aid to the country would be in danger if Mr Morales was chosen on August 3.

Mr Morales is leader of the country’s coca-growers and is opposed to the coca eradication programme sponsored by the US as part of the “war on drugs” on the continent.

“We do not believe we could have normal relations with someone who espouses these kinds of policies,” Mr Reich said on a visit to Buenos Aires.

The US ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, had already issued a similar warning, suggesting that if Mr Morales was elected US aid would be cut off.

“The Bolivian electorate must consider the consequences of choosing leaders somehow connected with drug trafficking and terrorism,” said Mr Rocha in a speech last month. “I want to remind the Bolivian electorate that if they vote for those who want Bolivia to return to exporting cocaine, that will seriously jeopardise any future aid to Bolivia from the United States.”

But the comments appeared to infuriate Bolivians and enhanced the popularity of Mr Morales who called the ambassador his “best campaign chief”.

Mr Reich’s intervention is the latest in a series of moves to influence politics in the region. He has been criticised for the way the US administration was seen as giving the green light to the military coup in Venezuela in April which would have removed the leftwing president, Hugo Chavez. Mr Chavez was returned to power after 48 hours but is still thought to be at risk from another possible coup attempt.

Last year, the US intervened in the Nicaraguan elections, warning that if the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, won, there would be disastrous financial consequences for the country. A US state department official, Lino Gutierrez, visited the country to urge the conservative parties running against Mr Ortega to bury their differences to defeat him. Mr Ortega lost the election heavily although the US intervention was far from the decisive factor.

Mr Reich is a controversial figure in Latin-American politics. Under Ronald Reagan, he was the head of the office of public diplomacy at the state department and used his position to promote the cause of the “contras” in their war against the Sandinistas.

In an investigation in 1987 by the comptroller-general of the US he was found to have abused his office which had been engaged in “prohibited, covert propaganda activities… beyond the range of acceptable public information activities”.

He was appointed to his current post despite strong opposition from Democrats on the foreign relations committee.


Comments

5 responses to “US To Bolivia: “Elect Who we tell you to””

  1. from http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html

    Many of the world’s most repressive dictators have been friends of America. Tyrants, torturers, killers, and sundry dictators and corrupt puppet-presidents have been aided, supported, and rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to US interests. Traditional dictators seize control through force, while constitutional dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections, and are frequently puppets and apologists for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. In any case, none have been democratically elected by the majority of their people in fair and open elections.

    They are democratic America’s undemocratic allies. They may rise to power through bloody ClA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other US agencies. US military aid and weapons sales often strengthen their armies and guarantee their hold on power. Unwavering "anti-communism" and a willingness to provide unhampered access for American business interests to exploit their countries’ natural resources and cheap labor are the excuses for their repression, and the primary reason the US government supports them. They may be linked internationalIy to extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League, and some have had strong Nazi affiliations and have offered sanctuary to WWll Nazi war criminals.

    They usually grow rich, while their countries’ economies deteriorate and the majority of their people live in poverty. US tax dollars and US-backed loans have made billionaires of some, while others are international drug dealers who also collect CIA paychecks. Rarely are they called to account for their crimes. And rarely still, is the US government held responsible for supporting and protecting some of the worst human rights violators in the world.
    Friendly dictators

    Abacha, General Sani —————————-Nigeria
    Amin, Idi ——————————————Uganda
    Banzer, Colonel Hugo —————————Bolivia
    Batista, Fulgencio ——————————–Cuba
    Bolkiah, Sir Hassanal —————————-Brunei
    Botha, P.W. —————————————South Africa
    Branco, General Humberto ———————Brazil
    Cedras, Raoul ————————————-Haiti
    Cerezo, Vinicio ———————————–Guatemala
    Chiang Kai-Shek ———————————Taiwan
    Cordova, Roberto Suazo ————————Honduras
    Christiani, Alfredo ——————————-El Salvador
    Diem, Ngo Dihn ———————————Vietnam
    Doe, General Samuel —————————-Liberia
    Duvalier, Francois ——————————–Haiti
    Duvalier, Jean Claude—————————–Haiti
    Fahd bin’Abdul-‘Aziz, King ———————Saudi Arabia
    Franco, General Francisco ———————–Spain
    Hitler, Adolf —————————————Germany
    Hassan II——————————————-Morocco
    Marcos, Ferdinand ——————————-Philippines
    Martinez, General Maximiliano Hernandez —El Salvador
    Mobutu Sese Seko ——————————-Zaire
    Noriega, General Manuel ————————Panama
    Ozal, Turgut ————————————–Turkey
    Pahlevi, Shah Mohammed Reza —————Iran
    Papadopoulos, George ————————–Greece
    Park Chung Hee ———————————South Korea
    Pinochet, General Augusto ———————Chile
    Pol Pot———————————————Cambodia
    Rabuka, General Sitiveni ————————Fiji
    Montt, General Efrain Rios ———————Guatemala
    Salassie, Halie ————————————Ethiopia
    Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira ——————–Portugal
    Somoza, Anastasio Jr. ————————–Nicaragua
    Somoza, Anastasio, Sr. ————————-Nicaragua
    Smith, Ian —————————————-Rhodesia
    Stroessner, Alfredo —————————–Paraguay
    Suharto, General ———————————Indonesia
    Trujillo, Rafael Leonidas ———————–Dominican Republic
    Videla, General Jorge Rafael ——————Argentina
    Zia Ul-Haq, Mohammed ———————-Pakistan

  2. Old news!

    Lozada won it…
    1 month ago or maybe more!

  3. well I guess we should add Lozada to the list.

  4. Well it’s only just got in the znet magazine …it cant be a month old surely….but maybe

  5. Venezuela isn’t selling oil to the U.S. but it is selling it to Bolivia….Hmmmm