Bolivia UN envoy says to Israel: 'You kill children and women'

May 17, 2018

The Bolivian representative to the United Nations Security Council, Sacha Llorenti, said to Israel “you kill children and women” after reading out the names of the 61 Palestinian victims who were killed by the Israeli soldiers in Gaza earlier this week.

The representative said during an emergency meeting on Tuesday that Gaza has turned into a large prison adding that transferring the US Embassy to Jerusalem has inflamed emotions.

“As a member of the Security Council and in the presence of my dear brother, the ambassador to Palestine; I wish to ask for his forgiveness, and say how sorry I am to the 6 million Palestinian refugees who have lost their homes and today live in camps” he added.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180517-bolivia-un-envoy-says-to-israel-you-kill-children-and-women/.

Admirers honor 'Che' Guevara 50 years after his death

October 08, 2017

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A little band of guerrillas had been on the run through rugged, mountainous terrain, struggling unsuccessfully to build support among the indigenous people of rural Bolivia as a step toward a global socialist revolution.

Finally, on Oct. 8, 1967, the army ran them down. A day afterward — apparently at the behest of the CIA — an army sergeant shot to death their leader: Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Fifty years later, the mountain village where he was killed and the nearby town where he was buried have become shrines to a sort of socialist saint, a man whose death helped cement his image as an enduring symbol of revolt. Some there even pray to him — an outcome that likely would have outraged the iconoclastic atheist.

Thousands of activists and sympathizers from many countries poured into La Higuera and Vallegrande this week for ceremonies to commemorate Guevara led by the country's leftist president, Evo Morales, who laid flowers at a bust of the fallen guerrilla in the village on Sunday.

In Cuba, President Raul Castro — one of Guevara's old comrades-in-arms — oversaw a memorial ceremony at the large mausoleum constructed to hold the revolutionary's remains, though the main speaker was the man many believe may replace him, Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

"The colossal example of Che endures and multiplies day by day," said Diaz-Canel, who added warnings that the United States, Guevara's chief foe, had demonstrated "a marked interest in a political and economic reconquest" of Cuba.

Guevara was the very personification of the communist dream of spreading revolution around the world. The Argentine-born physician was radicalized by a youthful trip through South America, witnessed the CIA-backed overthrow of a leftist president in Guatemala and ran across exiled Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro while working as a photographer in Mexico.

Despite an often-debilitating asthma, he turned himself into one of the most important fighters of Castro's Cuban revolution, winning the climactic battlefield victory in the city of Santa Clara that prompted dictator Fulgencio Batista to flee the country.

In the aftermath of that triumph, Guevara commanded the Havana military fortress of La Cabana, where hundreds of men accused of crimes under the Batista regime were put to death. Castro then made Guevara into an unlikely financial bureaucrat, naming him to head Cuba's Central Bank and later the Ministry of Industry. He was famous for working long hours, and then turning up for volunteer work in the sugar fields.

But he felt the call to spread socialism to other nations. He left Cuba in 1964 to help rebels in the Congo, renouncing his Cuban citizenship but relying on Cuban aid. The mission was a flop and he had to pull out a year later.

Back in Cuba, Guevara secretly organized another revolution, this time in Bolivia. But his band there, which included several Cubans, failed to find the sort of popular support that Castro had won in Cuba during his revolution. Bolivia's army tracked Che down and killed him.

An oddly Christ-like photo of the slain Guevara emerged and helped build the image of him as a martyr. An even more famous photo of the living Che, seeming to gaze into the future, has become an icon of rebellion on t-shirts, tattoos and key rings — sometimes to the consternation of Guevara's socialist allies, who disapprove of the way it has become commercialized.

One of Guevara's younger brothers, Juan Martin Guevara, said the causes he fought for remain important. "The inequality today is greater than when he fought, the economic concentration is much greater. What he fought for is still present," the brother said in Buenos Aires. "He would be in the same place that he always was, confronting it."

Andrea Rodriguez reported from Havana. Associated Press journalist Paul Byrne contributed from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Official: Striking miners kill deputy minister in Bolivia

August 26, 2016

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Striking miners in Bolivia kidnapped and beat to death the country's deputy interior minister after he traveled to the area to mediate in the bitter conflict over mining laws, officials said.

Government Minister Carlos Romero called it a "cowardly and brutal killing" and asked that the body of deputy minister Rodolfo Illanes be turned over to authorities. Illanes, whose formal title is vice minister of the interior regime, was "savagely beaten" to death by the striking miners, Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira told Red Uno television, his voice breaking.

Earlier, Romero had said that Illanes had been kidnapped and possibly tortured, but wasn't able to confirm reports that he had been killed by the striking informal miners, who are demanding the right to associate with private companies, among other issues.

The fatal beating follows the killings of two protesters in clashes with police, deaths that likely escalated tensions in the strike. Illanes had gone to Panduro, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the La Paz, to open a dialogue with the striking miners, who have blockaded a highway there since Monday. Thousands of passengers and vehicles are stranded on roads blocked by the strikers.

Officials say he was taken hostage by the miners on Thursday morning. At midday, Illanes said on his Twitter account: "My health is fine, my family can be calm." There are reports that he had heart problems.

Bolivia's informal or artisan miners number about 100,000 and work in self-managed cooperatives. They want to be able to associate with private companies, which is prohibited. The government argues that if they associate with multinational companies they would cease to be cooperatives.

The National Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Bolivia, once strong allies of President Evo Morales, went on an indefinite protest after negotiations over the mining legislation failed.

Russia, Bolivia look to strengthen military ties

by Carlo Munoz
Moscow (UPI)
Apr 12, 2016

Russia and Bolivia are holding negotiations over how Russian defense firms can help the South American nation revitalize its aging military arsenal over the next decade.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss current and future foreign military sales requests filed by Sucre in support of that long-term rearmament plan.

The two diplomats also discussed broader plans for bilateral cooperation on economic and political issues as well, according to Lavrov.

"Contacts are being prepared on the meeting results in connection with specific requests made by our Bolivian friends in the context of the approved in their country program for the re-equipment of the Bolivian armed forces within the next 10 years," Lavrov said at a press conference after the bilateral talks

"We'll try to take an active part in these affairs," he added. He did not comment on the specifics of the Bolivian requests for weapons and military hardware, or the potential value of those requests.

Lavrov did note the two diplomats discussed broader plans for bilateral cooperation on economic and political issues as well.

Both countries have established a working commission to discuss issues related to military cooperation, trade and potential investment partnerships, meeting last year to negotiate those issues.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_Bolivia_look_to_strengthen_military_ties_999.html.

Body of slain woman found buried in Bolivian prison cell

April 07, 2016

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — An inmate apparently killed his ex-wife and buried her beneath his cell in Bolivia's largest prison — with nobody taking notice for nearly a year, officials said Thursday. Chief prosecutor Gomer Padilla told The Associated Press that the body was found after a fellow inmate confessed to helping bury Kenia Hidalgo Cespedes.

The prosecutor said the alleged killer, Marco Antonio Ramirez, apparently failed to pay the conspirator an agreed-on $278 to keep silent. "There are some investigations pending but all elements show that the skeletal remains belong to the ex-wife of this man who was already sentenced for murder," Padilla said.

Ramirez is serving a 30-year sentence for killing another former girlfriend. His former wife apparently visited to discuss the sale of a jointly owned apartment. Bolivian law allows inmates to have unsupervised visits.

Padilla said investigators are probing the responsibility of personnel at the notorious Palmasola prison, which Pope Francis visited last year. The case highlights the chaos at the badly overcrowded prison on the outskirts of the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. Inside its walls, inmates run the prison, drugs are cheaper than on the street and money buys survival.

During a 2013 struggle for control of the cellblock holding Palmasola's most violent inmates, one gang attacked its rivals with machetes and home-made flamethrowers. The 36 fatalities included a 1-year-old. It was modern Bolivia's deadliest prison riot.

Chile to countersue Bolivia at UN court over water dispute

March 28, 2016

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said Monday that her government is ready to countersue Bolivia over a water dispute at the International Court of Justice. Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday that his country would sue Chile in the Netherlands-based court seeking to force Chile to pay compensation for using the Silala river in a border region.

Bachelet said that Bolivia is claiming ownership over shared water resources and that the Silala flows into Chile by the simple law of gravity. She said Bolivia has recognized the Silala as an international river for more than 100 years.

Landlocked Bolivia asked the international court in 2013 to order Chile to negotiate over Bolivia's claim for access to the Pacific. The case is being heard by the court, whose rulings are final and binding.

Bolivia to receive its last three Super Pumas in 2016

by Ryan Maass
Washington (UPI)
Dec 4, 2015

Bolivia is scheduled to receive its last three AS332 Super Pumas from Airbus Helicopters in 2016, completing a 2013 order.

The Bolivian Ministry of Defense ordered six AS332 C1e Super Puma helicopters from manufacturer Airbus Helicopters in September 2013, with the first two delivered in 2014, and the third in 2015. Bolivian Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira says the helicopters will be used for fighting drug trafficking and smuggling as well as humanitarian operations.

The Airbus Helicopters-built AS332 C1e is designed to perform in a variety of environments, providing protection against sand ingestion and icing, with crash-worthy seats installed for pilots and co-pilots.

The aircraft is fitted to carry large payload volumes, and can be customized for seating 20 passengers or troops. Custom options include armor plating for pilot and co-pilot seats, wire strike protection and an external beam for fast roping.

Ferreira also announced Bolivia will seek to procure two transport aircraft by 2017.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Bolivia_to_receive_its_last_three_Super_Pumas_in_2016_999.html.

Bolivians unhappy with Morales seeking third term

June 21, 2013

LA PAZ, Bolivia, June 21 (UPI) -- Bolivians are beginning to voice disquiet over the way President Evo Morales is preparing to prolong his rule through constitutional devices that will likely enable him to seek election to a third term.

The president has high approval ratings among Bolivia's majority Amerindian and Mestizo voters, the first and second largest groups respectively in a population of 10 million. The president has less loyal supporters among citizens of European ancestry but all three communities have worked fairly well so far with the government.

Until now.

News of Morales wanting a third term has been circulating for some time, but it stirred a diplomatic row between La Paz and the Organization of American States, which has headquarters in Washington.

Inevitably, fiery rhetoric related to "the empire" -- the United States -- having something to do with all this got into headlines as the president accused the OAS of backing U.S. interests rather than serving the peoples of the member countries.

In April a constitutional court ruled Morales could stand for president a third time because his first term from 2006 to 2010 did not count since it was under an old constitution.

Opposition politicians called the court ruling unconstitutional and vowed to fight to have it overturned. Although Morales' indigenous racial background has been part of the winning formula, the government-led reinterpretation of constitutional law has left opposition divided.

Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera signed the change into law while Morales was out of the country at that time.

"He has the constitutional right to choose to be re-elected," Garcia Linera declared at the time, but critics are not so sure.

"It is clear that the will of the MAS [the Movement Towards Socialism ruling party] is to remain in power and opt for the re-election of Evo Morales," political analyst Maria Teresa Zegada told the El Pais newspaper.

Despite the constitutional maneuvers, Morales has yet to formally announce his candidacy in elections to be held next year.

But the president reacted angrily amid leaks about his plans, prompting OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza to apologize.

In a 2008 letter OAS Secretary for Political Affairs Kevin Casas-Zamora wrote to former Bolivian conservative President Jorge Quiroga about a Morales comment he would not seek a third mandate.

As the third-term controversy brewed last week, Quiroga released the contents of the letter in El Pais. Published comments appeared to suggest OAS gave assurance Morales a third term was off the table.

Analysts said the revelation by Quiroga, who was president from 2001 to 2002, contradicted presidential campaign pronouncements by senior aides, including Vice President Garcia Linera.

Critics said the president's pledge not to go for a third term was documented in negotiations involving the opposition, the OAS and the United Nations as part of international efforts to promote democracy in Bolivia.

Morales singled out the OAS for targeted criticism following the disclosure. The OAS needs deep transformations and shouldn't be seen serving "the empire" rather than the people, Morales said.

The president is facing renewed discontent over drought in the Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, Tarija and Cochabamba regions, which has affected more than 16,000 families. Critics say a $2.67 allocation for relief handouts may not be enough as the drought spreads.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/06/21/Bolivians-unhappy-with-Morales-seeking-third-term/UPI-42011371813747/.