[News] Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military’s School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs
Anti-Imperialist News
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Thu Nov 14 10:46:58 EST 2019
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/?fbclid=IwAR0xqGoCb1-tCoPIEe5BEy5fMsNbLzeOI0t4nhQBZUG88iEHV7hYdv4f1IA
Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military’s School of the
Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commanders of Bolivia’s military and police helped plot the coup
and guaranteed its success. Before they were educated for
insurrection through the US military’s notorious School of the
Americas and FBI training programs.
By Jeb Sprague - November 13, 2019
The United States played a key role in the military coup in Bolivia, and
in a direct way that has scarcely been acknowledged in accounts of the
events that forced the country’s elected president, Evo Morales, to
resign on November 10.
Just prior to Morales’ resignation, the commander of Bolivia’s armed
forces Williams Kaliman “suggested”
<https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/11/actualidad/1573486822_060794.html>that
the president step down. A day earlier, sectors of the country’s police
force had rebelled.
Though Kaliman appears to have feigned loyalty to Morales over the
years, his true colors showed as soon as the moment of opportunity
arrived. He was not only an actor in the coup, he had his own history in
Washington, where he had briefly served as the military attaché of
Bolivia’s embassy in the US capital.
Kaliman sat at the top of a military and police command structure that
has been substantially cultivated by the US through WHINSEC, the
military training school in Fort Benning, Georgia known in the past as
the School of the Americas <http://www.soaw.org/>. Kaliman himself
attended a course
<https://twitter.com/parescolombia/status/1194055311780388865>called
“Comando y Estado Mayor” at the SOA in 2003.
At least six of the key coup plotters are alumni of the infamous School
of the Americas, while Kaliman and another figure served in the past as
Bolivia’s military and police attachés in Washington.
Within the Bolivian police, top commanders who helped launch the coup
have passed through the APALA police exchange program. Working out of
Washington DC, APALA functions to build relations between U.S.
authorities and police officials from Latin American states. Despite its
influence, or perhaps because of it, the program maintains little public
presence. Its staff was impossible for this researcher to reach by phone.
It is common for governments to assign a small number of individuals to
work at their country’s embassies abroad as military or police attachés.
The late Philip Agee, a one-time CIA case officer who became the
agency’s first whistleblower, explained in his 1975 tell-all book
<https://archive.org/details/insidecompanycia00agee>how US intelligence
traditionally relied on the recruitment of foreign military and police
officers, including embassy attachés, as critical assets in regime
change and counter-insurgency operations.
As I found from the more than 11,000 FOIA documents I obtained while
writing my book
<https://monthlyreview.org/product/paramilitarism_and_the_assault_on_democracy_in_haiti/>on
the paramilitary campaign waged in the lead up to the February 2004
ouster of Haiti’s elected government and the post-coup repression
<http://www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf>, U.S. officials worked for
years to ingratiate themselves and establish connections with Haitian
police, army, and ex-army officials. These connections as well as the
recruitment and information gathering efforts eventually paid off.
In Bolivia, too, the role of military and police officials trained by
the US was pivotal in forcing regime change. U.S. government agencies
such as USAID have openly financed anti-Morales groups in the country
for many years <https://nacla.org/news/usaids-silent-invasion-bolivia>.
But the way that the country’s security forces were used as a Trojan
Horse by US intelligence services is less understood. With Morales’s
forced departure, however, it became impossible to deny how critical a
factor this was.
As this investigation will establish, the coup plot could not have
succeeded without the enthusiastic approval of the country’s military
and police commanders. And their consent was influenced heavily by the
US, where so many were groomed and educated for insurrection.
*Leaked audio exposes School of the Americas grads plotting a coup*
Leaked audio
<https://erbol.com.bo/nacional/surgen-16-audios-que-vinculan-c%C3%ADvicos-exmilitares-y-eeuu-en-planes-de-agitaci%C3%B3n>
reported
<https://www.en24.news/news/2019/11/10/bolivia-audios-leaked-from-opposition-leaders-calling-for-a-coup-against-evo-morales.html>on
Bolivian news website La Época, and by elperiodicocr.com
<https://elperiodicocr.com/bolivia-filtran-audios-de-lideres-opositores-llamando-a-un-golpe-de-estado-contra-evo-morales/>and
a range of national media outlets, reveals that covert coordination
<https://nos24.com/2019/08/15/kaliman-pisotea-la-constitucion-militares-molestos-en-bolivia/>took
place between current and former Bolivian police, military, and
opposition leaders in bringing about the coup.
Los audios de la conspiración del #GolpeDeEstadoEnBolivia
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/GolpeDeEstadoEnBolivia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>.
Por @elperiodicocr
<https://twitter.com/elperiodicocr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
https://t.co/lw2qjpqsmm pic.twitter.com/P4M4dbIw2W
<https://t.co/P4M4dbIw2W>
— Rompeviento TV (@RompevientoTV) November 10, 2019
<https://twitter.com/RompevientoTV/status/1193669345261576194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
The leaked audio recordings show that former Cochabamba mayor and former
presidential candidate Manfred Reyes Villa played a central role in the
plot. Reyes happens to be an alumnusof WHINSEC (formerly known as the
School of the Americas), who currently resides in the United States.
The other four who are introduced or introduce themselves by name in the
leaked audio are General Remberto Siles Vasquez (audio 12
<https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-12>); Colonel Julio César
Maldonado Leoni (audio 8
<https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-8-1>and 9
<https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-9>); Colonel Oscar Pacello
Aguirre (audio 14 <https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-14>), and
Colonel Teobaldo Cardozo Guevara (audio 10
<https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-10>). All four of these
ex-military officials attended the SOA.
Cardozo Guevara, in particular, boasts
<https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-10>about his connections
amongst active officers.
The identities of these individuals are confirmed by cross-checking the
data of the School of Americas
<http://www.derechos.org/soa/bo-qz.html>Watch lists
<http://www.soawlatina.org/graduados.htm>of alumni with Facebook and
local Bolivian news articles and the leaked audio recordings
<https://elperiodicocr.com/bolivia-filtran-audios-de-lideres-opositores-llamando-a-un-golpe-de-estado-contra-evo-morales/>.
The School of the Americas is a notorious site of education
<https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-school-of-the-americas-is-still-exporting-death-squads/204655/>
for Latin American coup plotters dating back to the height of the Cold
War. Brutal regime change and reprisal operations from Haiti to Honduras
have been carried out by SOA graduates, and some of the most
bloodstained juntas in the region’s history have been run by the
school’s alumni.
For many years, anti-war protesters have staged a protest vigil outside
the SOA’s headquarters at the Fort Benning military base near Columbus,
Georgia.
A protest vigil outside the School of the Americas at Fort Benning
The leader of those protests, Father Roy Bourgeois, has described the
SOA
<https://books.google.com/books?id=BPlTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+combat+school.+Most+of+the+courses+revolve+around+what+they+call+counter+insurgency+warfare.+Who+are+the+insurgents?+We+have+to+ask+that+question.+They+are+the+poor.+They+are+the+people+in+Latin+America+who+call+for+reform.+They+are+the+landless+peasants+who+are+hungry.+They+are+health+care+workers,+human+rights+advocates,+labor+organizers,+they+become+the+insurgents,+they%27re+seen+as+El+Enimigo,+the+Enemy.+And+they+are+those+who+become+the+targets+of+those+who+learn+their+lessons+at+the+School+of+the+Americas.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=JOisLsT-GD&sig=ACfU3U0Mz3X3zwDD2kIhsp8K46miU0-C8g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio8t-_2-blAhUKrp4KHZPhAL8Q6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ca%20combat%20school.%20Most%20of%20the%20courses%20revolve%20around%20what%20they%20call%20counter%20insurgency%20warfare.%20Who%20are%20the%20insurgents%3F%20We%20have%20to%20ask%20that%20question.%20They%20are%20the%20poor.%20They%20are%20the%20people%20in%20Latin%20America%20who%20call%20for%20reform.%20They%20are%20the%20landless%20peasants%20who%20are%20hungry.%20They%20are%20health%20care%20workers%2C%20human%20rights%20advocates%2C%20labor%20organizers%2C%20they%20become%20the%20insurgents%2C%20they're%20seen%20as%20El%20Enimigo%2C%20the%20Enemy.%20And%20they%20are%20those%20who%20become%20the%20targets%20of%20those%20who%20learn%20their%20lessons%20at%20the%20School%20of%20the%20Americas.%E2%80%9D&f=false>as
“a combat school. ” He continued:
“Most of the courses revolve around what they call counter insurgency
warfare. Who are the insurgents? We have to ask that question. They are
the poor. They are the people in Latin America who call for reform. They
are the landless peasants who are hungry. They are health care workers,
human rights advocates, labor organizers, they become the insurgents,
they’re seen as ‘el enemigo’ —the enemy. And they are those who become
the targets of those who learn their lessons at the School of the Americas.”
Bourgeois was deported from Bolivia
<http://inthesetimes.com/article/13767/father_roy_bourgeois_journey>in
1977 when he spoke out against the human rights abuses of Gen. Hugo
Banzer, a right-wing dictator who rose to power through a US-backed coup
that toppled a leftist government. History repeats itself today as
Banzer’s ideological heirs drive another socialist leader from power
through time-tested destabilization tactics.
In the recently leaked audio recordings, coup plotters discuss plans to
set ablaze government buildings, get pro-business unions in the country
to carry out strikes, as well as other tactics – all straight out of the
CIA playbook.
Also alluded to in the leaked audio is that the coup attempt would be
supported by various evangelical groups as well as by Colombian
President Iván Duque, ex-Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, and most
notably Brazil’s neo-fascist President Jair Bolsonaro.
The plotters also mention the strong support of ultra-right U.S.
senators Ted Cruz, Bob Menéndez, and Marco Rubio, who is said to have
the ear of President Donald Trump when it comes to U.S. foreign policy
in the Western Hemisphere.
*Military and Police Attachées in DC: A breeding ground for U.S.
intelligence networking*
As tensions built over recent weeks, it was the commanding general of
the Bolivian Police, Vladimir Yuri Calderón Mariscal, who broke the
stalemate by leading large parts of the police force
<https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bolivia-morales-warns-of-coup-detat-over-police-mutiny/ar-BBWvBmt>
to revolt on November 9th, just a day prior to the resignation of Morales.
Then-Col. Vladimir Yuri Calderón Mariscal (third on the left) with other
APALA officials in 2018.
In 2018 Calderón Mariscal served
<https://metrolatinousa.com/2018/09/10/nueva-vision-para-asociacion-de-agregados-policiales-en-washington/>as
President of Police Attachés of Latin America in the United States of
America (APALA), which is based in Washington, DC.
APALA <https://twitter.com/apalausa>has been described as a
“multidimensional security” program that works to build relations and
connections between U.S. authorities and police officials from many of
the Organization of American States members.
At APALA’s founding in 2012, then-OAS Secretary General José Miguel
Insulza (center in photo below) met with the group’s leadership.
Today APALA hosts police attachés from 10 countries: Brazil, Bolivia,
Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Mexico and the
Dominican Republic.
According to its Facebook page, the group
<https://www.facebook.com/pg/APALA-Members-Agrupaci%C3%B3n-de-Agregados-Policiales-136487393176682/about/>“was
created, with the objective of generating, promoting, and strengthening
ties of solidarity, friendship, cooperation and support between the
members of the group and their families through social, cultural
activities, which allow to generate integral development.”
It claims to be facilitating the “integration and exchange of the police
institutions that comprise it, in addition to promoting the exchange of
successful experiences developed by the different police forces of Latin
America.”
Photo of Calderón Mariscal (center-right) at the FBI training academy
that is 36 miles outside of Washington, DC
A mysterious organization, APALA has shut down its website ApalaUSA.com
<http://www.apalausa.com/>and does not answer phone calls. It functions
in some capacity as an arm of U.S. federal agencies as its social media
platform and now defunct website showcase numerous meetings and photos
of APALA officials and participants alongside FBI, DEA, ICE, and other
U.S. officials.
As Philip Agee explained in his book /Inside the Company/
<http://thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIA_Diary_Agee.html>, the CIA often
uses other U.S. government agencies such as the FBI and USAID, as well
as various front-organizations, to carry out its clandestine activities
without leaving fingerprints.
/Below: APALA participants at the FBI headquarters in Washington DC/
Visita de trabajo de @apalausa
<https://twitter.com/apalausa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> a @FBI
<https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> En las instalaciones
del J. Edgar Hoover, en Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/gaDZrjHaHB
<https://t.co/gaDZrjHaHB>
— APALA (@apalausa) November 16, 2017
<https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/931175445890035713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
One of APALA’s key local members is Alex Zunca
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-zunca-91257963/>, a police officer in
Baltimore who is the director of international affairs for the Hispanic
National Law Enforcement Association, which is based in Washington, DC.
APALA’s street address listed on its now defunct website is the same
address as the embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC. The group was
apparently run out of the Mexican Embassy, at least between 2017 and
2018 when its website was active during the administration of the US
friendly former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Interestingly, a colleague of Calderón Mariscal’s and also a former
<https://web.archive.org/web/20181022065317/http://www.apalausa.com/>President
of APALA is an associate minister of the Federal Police of Mexico named
NicolásGonzález Perrin
<https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Gonz%C3%A1lez_Perrin>.
Below, he can be seen seated beside a Mexican national flag and an FBI hat.
In a 2017 interview with the Washington Hispanic
<http://washingtonhispanic.com/portal/metro/agregados-policiales-en-dc-de-la-mano-con-la-comunidad/>,
a DC-based Spanish language newspaper, González Perrin
<https://twitter.com/ngperrin>declared “that APALA holds meetings,
permanently, with the most significant federal agencies in the United
States, ‘from INTERPOL to DEA, ICE and the FBI, who work with us, based
on mutual needs.’”
Another important APALA participant is Hector Ivan Mejia Velasquez, the
former General Commissioner of Honduras’s National Police, who has led
brutal operations against protesters
<https://www.thenation.com/article/honduras-which-side-us/>in his own
country, and regularly posts anti-leftist screeds on social media
<https://twitter.com/IvanMejiaHn>.
En la @EmbamexEUA
<https://twitter.com/EmbamexEUA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> primera reunión
anual de @apalausa
<https://twitter.com/apalausa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> contamos con la
presencia de @FBI <https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
@ICEgov <https://twitter.com/ICEgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
@CustomsBorder @DEAHQ
<https://twitter.com/DEAHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> @ATFHQ
<https://twitter.com/ATFHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>. Juntos construimos
un mundo más seguro . pic.twitter.com/S3CZCMnJXt
<https://t.co/S3CZCMnJXt>
— APALA (@apalausa) January 12, 2018
<https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/951937229240373248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
Calls to APALA’s public contact
<https://www.facebook.com/pg/APALA-Members-Agrupaci%C3%B3n-de-Agregados-Policiales-136487393176682/about/>Alvaro
Andrade Sejas went unanswered. My calls to his number, which is listed
as being located in Rockville, Maryland, went straight to a voicemail
stating that it was restricted.
Andrade’s Linkedin profile
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaroandrade/>states that he is based in
Panama and is the CEO of an ATM system and the chief executive officer
of a group that specializes in giving advice on computer hacking.
Shockingly, Andrade’s firm Ethical Hacking
<https://boliviadecide.blogspot.com/2019/11/video-alvaro-andrade-de-ethical-hacking.html>
is the company that was hired by Bolivia’s Tribunal Supremo Electoral
<https://twitter.com/TSEBolivia> (TSE) to monitor the technical side of
the country’s recent election.
Previously, Andrade was an adviser for an Ecuadorian based group working
in forensic information and focusing on “computer crimes and computer
intelligence”, and prior to that he worked for the telecommunications
company Nuevatal PCS of Bolivia as its chief information security officer.
Between 1998 and 2002 he attended Bolivia’s Military School of Engineering.
APALA – whose Facebook page Andrade appears to operate – has worked with
other Bolivian police officials as well, such as Bolivian police attaché
Heroldina Henao <https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/804046038722084867>.
#apala
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/apala?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
Reconocimiento a la Agregada Policial Bolivia Heroldina Henao por
parte del Presidente NICOLÁS G. PERRIN. pic.twitter.com/DvUbRNTtA1
<https://t.co/DvUbRNTtA1>
— APALA (@apalausa) November 30, 2016
<https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/804046038722084867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
The other key official that helped to bring about the November 10th coup
is General Williams Kaliman
<https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/11/actualidad/1573486822_060794.html>,
the current head of Bolivia’s military. He served as a military attaché
<https://fmbolivia.com.bo/williams-kaliman-de-jefe-de-erradicacion-en-el-chapare-a-un-soldado-aliado-del-mas/>for
his country’s embassy in Washington, D.C. in 2013. A decade prior, he
had taken part in training at the SOA. Little is known about his time
in the United States.
General Williams Kaliman, head of Bolivia’s military
At different times both Kaliman and Calderón Mariscal appear to have
either been loyal to or feigned loyalty to the constitutional
government, but ultimately split from it or were convinced over time to
carry out a military putsch.
For his part, deposed President Morales has claimed that a member of his
own security team was offered $50,000 to betray
<https://twitter.com/evoespueblo/status/1194345391728320513> him.
The November 10 coup d’état did not materialize out of thin air. Events
that have transpired inside Bolivia are intimately connected to U.S.
efforts to influence military and police forces abroad through programs
like SOA and APALA.
While U.S. President Donald Trump
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-election-trump/trump-bolivia-events-boost-democracy-send-signal-to-venezuela-nicaragua-idUSKBN1XL2CE>cheers
on a “a significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere,”
Bolivians are suddenly under the control of a de facto military regime.
--
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