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<font size=3><b>NEWLY DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTOS REVEAL MORE THAN $97
MILLION IN FUNDING FROM USAID TO SEPARATIST PROJECTS IN BOLIVIA <br><br>
</b>From: Eva Golinger <evagolinger@hotmail.com><br><br>
By Eva Golinger<br>
12 May 2009 <br>
<br>
Recently declassified documents obtained by investigators Jeremy Bigwood
and Eva Golinger reveal that the US Agency for International Development
(USAID) has invested more than $97 million in “decentralization” and
“regional autonomy” projects and opposition political parties in Bolivia
since 2002. The documents, requested under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), evidence that USAID in Bolivia was the “first donor to support
departmental governments” and “decentralization programs” in the country,
proving that the US agency has been one of the principal funders and
fomenters of the separatist projects promoted by regional governments in
Eastern Bolivia. <br>
<br>
<b>DECENTRALIZATION AND SEPARATISM <br>
</b> <br>
The documents confirm that USAID has been managing approximately $85
million annually in Bolivia during the past few years, divided amongst
programs related to security, democracy, economic growth and human
investment. The Democracy Program is focused on a series of priorities,
the first outlined as “Decentralized democratic governments: departmental
governments and municipalities”. One document, classified as “sensitive”,
explains that this particular program began when USAID established an
Office for Transition Initiatives (OTI) en Bolivia during 2004. The OTIs
are a division of USAID that function as rapid response teams to
political crises in countries strategically important to US interests.
The OTI only address political issues, despite USAID’s principal mission
dedicated to humanitarian aid and development assistance, and they
generally have access to large amounts of liquid funds in order to
quickly and efficiently achieve their objectives. The OTI operate as
intelligence agencies due to their relative secrecy and filtering
mechanism that involves large contracts given to US companies to operate
temporary offices in nations where OTI requires channeling millions of
dollars to political parties and NGOs that work in favor of Washington’s
agenda. After the failed coup d’etat against President Chávez in April
2002, USAID set up an OTI in Venezuela two months later, in June 2002,
with a budget over $10 million for its first two years. Since then, the
OTI has filtered more than $50 million through five US entities that set
up shop in Caracas subsequently, reaching more than 450 NGOs, political
parties and programs that support the opposition to President
Chávez.<br>
<br>
In the case of Bolivia, the OTI contracted the US company, Casals &
Associates, to coordinate a program based on decentralization and
autonomy in the region considered the “media luna” (half-moon), where the
hard core opposition to President Evo Morales is based, particularly in
the province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Casals & Associates was also
charged with conducting a series of training seminars and workshops to
strengthen oppositional political parties that were working against then
presidential candidate Evo Morales in 2004 and 2005. After Morales was
elected president at the end of 2005, OTI directed the majority of its
funding and work to the separatist projects that later produced regional
referendums on autonomy in Eastern Bolivia. Their principal idea is to
divide Bolivia into two separate republics, one governed by an indigenous
majority and the other run by European descendents and mestizos that
inhabit the areas rich in natural resources, such as gas and water. After
2007, the OTI, which had an additional budget of $13.3 on top of USAID’s
general Bolivia program funding, was absorbed into USAID/Bolivia’s
Democracy Program, which since then has been dedicating resources to
consolidating the separatist projects. <br>
<br>
USAID’s work in Bolivia covers almost all sectors of political and
economic life, penetrating Bolivian society and attempting to impose a US
political and ideological model. The investment in “decentralization”
includes all the support and funding needed to conform “autonomous”
regions, from departmental planning to regional economic development,
financial management, communications strategies, departmental budget
structures, and territorial organization designs – all prepared and
implemented by USAID representatives and partners in Bolivia. As
part of the program titled “Strengthening Democratic Institutions” (SDI),
USAID describes its work to “enrich the dialogue on decentralization;
improve management of departmental budgetary resources; and promote
regional economic development.” Through this program, USAID has even
created “territorial organization laboratories” to help regional
governments implement their autonomy successfully. <br>
<br>
In one document dated November 30, 2007, just months before the
separatist referendums held in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija during
early 2008, the Democratic Initiatives Program of OTI/USAID worked
closely with the Prefects (regional governments) to “develop
sub-national, de-concentrated” models of government. In those regions,
those promoting such “sub-national, de-concentrated” models, or
separatism, have made clear that their objective is to achieve a
political, economic and territorial division from the national government
of Bolivia, so they can manage and benefit solely from the rich resources
in their regions. It’s no coincidence that the separatist initiatives are
all concentrated in areas rich in gas, water and economic power. The
multi-million dollar funding from USAID to the separatist projects in
Bolivia has encouraged and supported destabilization activities during
the past few years, including extreme violence and racism against
Indigenous communities, terrorist acts and even assassination attempts
against President Morales. <br>
<br>
<b>STRENGTHENING POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE OPPOSITION<br>
</b> <br>
Another principal priority of USAID in Bolivia as outlined in the
declassified documents is the extensive funding and training of
oppositional political parties. Through two US entities, the
International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic
Institute (NDI), both considered international branches of the republican
and democrat parties in the US that receive their funding from the
Department of State and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USAID
has been feeding – with funding and strategic political aide – political
groups and leaders from the opposition in Bolivia. During the year 2007,
$1.250.000.00 was dedicated to “training for members of political parties
on current political and electoral processes, including the constituent
assembly and the referendum on autonomy.” The principal beneficiaries of
this funding have been the opposition political parties Podemos, MNR, MIR
and more than 100 politically-oriented NGOs in Bolivia. <br>
<br>
<b>INTERVENTION IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES <br>
</b> <br>
An additional substantial part of USAID’s work in Bolivia has been
devoted to intervening in electoral processes during the past few years.
This has included forming a network of more than 3,000 “observers”,
trained by USAID grantee Partners of the Americas, a US corporation that
also receives funding from major companies and entities that form part of
the military-industrial complex. The creation of “networks” in “civil
society” to monitor electoral processes has been a strategy utilized by
Washington in countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua, to
later use such apparently “independent” observers in an attempt to
discredit and delegitimize elections and denounce fraud when results are
not favorable to US interests. In the case of Venezuela, for example, the
organization that has implemented this strategy is Súmate, a Venezuelan
NGO created with funding and strategic support from USAID and NED, that
has presented itself in the public opinion as “apolitical” but in reality
has been the principal promoter of the recall referendum in 2004 against
President Chávez and later the leader in denouncing fraud after every
electoral process in Venezuela lost by the opposition, despite that such
events have been certified as legitimate and “fraud-free” by
international institutions such as the Organization of American States,
European Community and the Carter Center. These “networks” function as
centers for the opposition during electoral processes to strengthen their
position in the public opinion and through the mass media. <br>
<br>
<b>PENETRATION IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES <br>
</b> <br>
USAID’s work in Bolivia is not just oriented towards strengthening the
opposition to Evo Morales and promoting separatism, but also involves
attempts to penetrate and infiltrate indigenous communities, seeking out
new actors to promote Washington’s agenda that have an image more
representative of the Bolivian indigenous majority. One declassified
document clearly outlines the necessity to give “more support to USAID
and Embassy indigenous interns to build and consolidate a network of
graduates who advocate for the US Government in key areas.” The document
further discusses the need to “strengthen democratic citizenship and
local economic development for Bolivia’s most vulnerable indigenous
groups.” Per USAID, “this program shows that no one country or government
has a monopoly on helping the indigenous. The program shows that the US
is a friend to Bolivia and the indigenous…” <br>
<br>
<b>The declassified documents in original format and with Spanish
translation are available at:
<a href="http://www.jeremybigwood.net/BO/2008-USAID" eudora="autourl"><u>
www.jeremybigwood.net/BO/2008-USAID<br><br>
<br><br>
</a></u></b></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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