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<h1 class="reader-title">Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by
US military’s School of the Americas, served as attachés in
FBI police programs</h1>
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<h3>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.</h3>
<h3>By Jeb Sprague - November 13, 2019<br>
</h3>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Just prior to Morales’ resignation, the commander
of Bolivia’s armed forces Williams Kaliman </span><a
href="https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/11/actualidad/1573486822_060794.html"><span>“suggested”</span></a><span>
that the president step down. A day earlier, sectors
of the country’s police force had rebelled. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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 </span><a href="http://www.soaw.org/"><span>the
School of the Americas</span></a><span>. Kaliman
himself </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/parescolombia/status/1194055311780388865"><span>attended
a course</span></a><span> called “Comando y Estado
Mayor” at the SOA in 2003.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>It is common for </span><span>governments to
assign a small number of individuals to work at their
country’s embassies abroad as military or police </span><span>attachés.
</span><span>The late Philip Agee, a one-time CIA case
officer who became the agency’s first whistleblower,
explained in his </span><a
href="https://archive.org/details/insidecompanycia00agee"><span>1975
tell-all book</span></a><span> 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. </span></p>
<p><span>As I found from the more than 11,000 FOIA
documents I obtained while writing my </span><a
href="https://monthlyreview.org/product/paramilitarism_and_the_assault_on_democracy_in_haiti/"><span>book</span></a><span>
on the paramilitary campaign waged in the lead up to
the February 2004 ouster of Haiti’s elected government
and the </span><a
href="http://www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf"><span>post-coup
repression</span></a><span>, 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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 </span><a
href="https://nacla.org/news/usaids-silent-invasion-bolivia"><span>many
years</span></a><span>. 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Leaked audio exposes School of the Americas
grads plotting a coup</strong></h3>
<p><span>Leaked </span><a
href="https://erbol.com.bo/nacional/surgen-16-audios-que-vinculan-c%C3%ADvicos-exmilitares-y-eeuu-en-planes-de-agitaci%C3%B3n"><span>audio</span></a>
<a
href="https://www.en24.news/news/2019/11/10/bolivia-audios-leaked-from-opposition-leaders-calling-for-a-coup-against-evo-morales.html"><span>reported</span></a><span>
on Bolivian news website La Época, </span><span>and
by </span><a
href="https://elperiodicocr.com/bolivia-filtran-audios-de-lideres-opositores-llamando-a-un-golpe-de-estado-contra-evo-morales/"><span>elperiodicocr.com</span></a><span>
and a range of national media outlets, reveals that
covert </span><a
href="https://nos24.com/2019/08/15/kaliman-pisotea-la-constitucion-militares-molestos-en-bolivia/"><span>coordination</span></a><span>
took place between current and former Bolivian police,
military, and opposition leaders in bringing about the
coup.</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="es">Los audios de la conspiración del
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GolpeDeEstadoEnBolivia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GolpeDeEstadoEnBolivia</a>.
Por <a
href="https://twitter.com/elperiodicocr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elperiodicocr</a>
<a href="https://t.co/lw2qjpqsmm">https://t.co/lw2qjpqsmm</a>
<a href="https://t.co/P4M4dbIw2W">pic.twitter.com/P4M4dbIw2W</a></p>
<p>— Rompeviento TV (@RompevientoTV) <a
href="https://twitter.com/RompevientoTV/status/1193669345261576194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November
10, 2019</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>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 </span><span>an alumnus</span><span>
of WHINSEC (formerly known as </span><span>the School
of the Americas), </span><span>who currently resides
in the United States.</span></p>
<p><span>The other four who are introduced or introduce
themselves by name in the leaked audio are General
Remberto Siles Vasquez (</span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-12"><span>audio
12</span></a><span>); Colonel Julio César Maldonado
Leoni (</span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-8-1"><span>audio
8</span></a><span> and </span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-9"><span>9</span></a><span>);
Colonel Oscar Pacello Aguirre (</span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-14"><span>audio
14</span></a><span>), and Colonel Teobaldo Cardozo
Guevara (</span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-10"><span>audio
10</span></a><span>). All four of these ex-military
officials attended the SOA. </span></p>
<p><span>Cardozo Guevara, in particular, </span><a
href="https://soundcloud.com/elperiodicocr/audio-10"><span>boasts</span></a><span>
about his connections amongst active officers.</span></p>
<p><span>The identities of these individuals are confirmed
by cross-checking the data of the </span><a
href="http://www.derechos.org/soa/bo-qz.html"><span>School
of Americas</span></a><span> Watch </span><a
href="http://www.soawlatina.org/graduados.htm"><span>lists</span></a><span>
of alumni with Facebook and local Bolivian news
articles and the </span><a
href="https://elperiodicocr.com/bolivia-filtran-audios-de-lideres-opositores-llamando-a-un-golpe-de-estado-contra-evo-morales/"><span>leaked
audio recordings</span></a><span>. </span></p>
<p><span>The School of the Americas is a <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-school-of-the-americas-is-still-exporting-death-squads/204655/">notorious
site of education</a> 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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_16627" class="wp-caption"><img
data-attachment-id="16627"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/soa/"
data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/soa.jpg?fit=955%2C500&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="955,500" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="soa" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/soa.jpg?fit=300%2C157&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/soa.jpg?fit=845%2C442&ssl=1"
src="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/soa.jpg?resize=845%2C442&ssl=1"
alt="" width="512" height="268"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-16627" class="wp-caption-text">A
protest vigil outside the School of the Americas at
Fort Benning</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>The leader of those protests, Father Roy
Bourgeois, has </span><a
href="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"><span>described
the SOA</span></a><span> as “a combat school. ” He
continued:</span></p>
<p><span>“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’ —</span><span>
the enemy. And they are those who become the targets
of those who learn their lessons at the School of the
Americas.”</span></p>
<p><span>Bourgeois was </span><a
href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/13767/father_roy_bourgeois_journey"><span>deported
from Bolivia</span></a><span> 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Military and Police Attachées in DC: A
breeding ground for U.S. intelligence networking</strong></h3>
<p><span>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 </span><a
href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bolivia-morales-warns-of-coup-detat-over-police-mutiny/ar-BBWvBmt"><span>police
force</span></a> t<span>o revolt on November 9th,
just a day prior to the resignation of Morales.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_16609" class="wp-caption"><img
data-attachment-id="16609"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-14-01-pm/"
data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.14.01-PM.png?fit=584%2C386&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="584,386" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Calderon" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.14.01-PM.png?fit=300%2C198&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.14.01-PM.png?fit=584%2C386&ssl=1"
src="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.14.01-PM.png?resize=584%2C386&ssl=1"
alt="" width="512" height="338"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-16609" class="wp-caption-text">Then-Col.
Vladimir Yuri Calderón Mariscal (third on the left)
with other APALA officials in 2018.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>In 2018 </span><a
href="https://metrolatinousa.com/2018/09/10/nueva-vision-para-asociacion-de-agregados-policiales-en-washington/"><span>Calderón
Mariscal served</span></a><span> as President of
Police Attachés of Latin America in the United States
of America (APALA), which is based in Washington, DC. </span></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/apalausa"><span>APALA</span></a><span>
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.</span></p>
<p><span>At APALA’s founding in 2012, then-OAS Secretary
General José Miguel Insulza (center in photo below)
met with the group’s leadership.</span></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="16611"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-16-44-pm/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.16.44-PM.png?fit=509%2C307&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="509,307" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Insulza" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.16.44-PM.png?fit=300%2C181&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.16.44-PM.png?fit=509%2C307&ssl=1"
src="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.16.44-PM.png?resize=509%2C307&ssl=1"
alt="" width="509" height="307"></p>
<p><span>Today APALA hosts police attachés from 10
countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador,
El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Mexico and the Dominican
Republic. </span></p>
<p><span>According to its Facebook page, the </span><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/APALA-Members-Agrupaci%C3%B3n-de-Agregados-Policiales-136487393176682/about/"><span>group</span></a><span>
“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.” </span></p>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_16612" class="wp-caption"><img
data-attachment-id="16612"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-18-10-pm/"
data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.18.10-PM.png?fit=515%2C385&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="515,385" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Training" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.18.10-PM.png?fit=300%2C224&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.18.10-PM.png?fit=515%2C385&ssl=1"
src="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.18.10-PM.png?resize=515%2C385&ssl=1"
alt="" width="512" height="383"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-16612" class="wp-caption-text">Photo
of Calderón Mariscal (center-right) at the FBI
training academy that is 36 miles outside of
Washington, DC</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>A mysterious organization, APALA has shut down
its website </span><a href="http://www.apalausa.com/"><span>ApalaUSA.com</span></a><span>
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. </span></p>
<p><span>As Philip Agee explained in his book</span> <a
href="http://thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIA_Diary_Agee.html"><i><span>Inside
the Company</span></i></a><span>, 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.</span></p>
<p><em>Below: APALA participants at the FBI headquarters
in Washington DC</em></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="es">Visita de trabajo de <a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@apalausa</a>
a <a
href="https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBI</a>
En las instalaciones del J. Edgar Hoover, en
Washington, D.C. <a href="https://t.co/gaDZrjHaHB">pic.twitter.com/gaDZrjHaHB</a></p>
<p>— APALA (@apalausa) <a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/931175445890035713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November
16, 2017</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>One of APALA’s key local members is </span><a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-zunca-91257963/"><span>Alex
Zunca</span></a><span>, 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>Interestingly, a colleague of Calderón Mariscal’s
and also a </span><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181022065317/http://www.apalausa.com/"><span>former</span></a><span>
President of APALA is an associate minister of the
Federal Police of Mexico named </span><a
href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Gonz%C3%A1lez_Perrin"><span>Nicolás</span><span>
González </span><span>Perrin</span></a><span>. </span></p>
<p><span>Below, he can be seen seated beside a Mexican
national flag and an FBI hat.</span></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="16614"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-20-38-pm/"
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<p><span>In a 2017 </span><a
href="http://washingtonhispanic.com/portal/metro/agregados-policiales-en-dc-de-la-mano-con-la-comunidad/"><span>interview
with the </span><span>Washington Hispanic</span></a><span>,
a DC-based Spanish language newspaper, </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/ngperrin"><span>González
Perrin</span></a><span> 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.’”</span></p>
<p><span>Another important APALA participant is Hector
Ivan Mejia Velasquez, the former General Commissioner
of Honduras’s National Police, who has led brutal </span><a
href="https://www.thenation.com/article/honduras-which-side-us/"><span>operations
against protesters</span></a><span> in his own
country, and regularly posts anti-leftist screeds on </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/IvanMejiaHn"><span>social
media</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="es">En la <a
href="https://twitter.com/EmbamexEUA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EmbamexEUA</a>
primera reunión anual de <a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@apalausa</a>
contamos con la presencia de <a
href="https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBI</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/ICEgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICEgov</a>
@CustomsBorder <a
href="https://twitter.com/DEAHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DEAHQ</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/ATFHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATFHQ</a>.
Juntos construimos un mundo más seguro . <a
href="https://t.co/S3CZCMnJXt">pic.twitter.com/S3CZCMnJXt</a></p>
<p>— APALA (@apalausa) <a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/951937229240373248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January
12, 2018</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Calls to APALA’s </span><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/APALA-Members-Agrupaci%C3%B3n-de-Agregados-Policiales-136487393176682/about/"><span>public
contact</span></a><span> 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.</span></p>
<p><span>Andrade’s</span> <a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaroandrade/"><span>Linkedin
profile</span></a><span> 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.</span></p>
<p><span> <img data-attachment-id="16615"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-23-00-pm/"
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data-image-title="Sejas" data-image-description=""
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alt="" width="512" height="294"></span></p>
<p>Shockingly, Andrade’s firm <a
href="https://boliviadecide.blogspot.com/2019/11/video-alvaro-andrade-de-ethical-hacking.html">Ethical
Hacking</a> is the company that was hired by Bolivia’s
<a href="https://twitter.com/TSEBolivia">Tribunal
Supremo Electoral</a> (TSE) to monitor the technical
side of the country’s recent election.</p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Between 1998 and 2002 he attended Bolivia’s
Military School of Engineering.</span></p>
<p><span>APALA – whose Facebook page Andrade appears to
operate – has worked with other Bolivian police
officials as well, such as Bolivian police attaché </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/804046038722084867"><span>Heroldina
Henao</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="es"><a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/apala?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#apala</a>
Reconocimiento a la Agregada Policial Bolivia
Heroldina Henao por parte del Presidente NICOLÁS G.
PERRIN. <a href="https://t.co/DvUbRNTtA1">pic.twitter.com/DvUbRNTtA1</a></p>
<p>— APALA (@apalausa) <a
href="https://twitter.com/apalausa/status/804046038722084867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November
30, 2016</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>The other key official that helped to bring about
the November 10th coup is General </span><a
href="https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/11/11/actualidad/1573486822_060794.html"><span>Williams
Kaliman</span></a><span>, the current head of
Bolivia’s military. He served as a </span><a
href="https://fmbolivia.com.bo/williams-kaliman-de-jefe-de-erradicacion-en-el-chapare-a-un-soldado-aliado-del-mas/"><span>military
attaché</span></a><span> 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.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_16616" class="wp-caption"><img
data-attachment-id="16616"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/screen-shot-2019-11-13-at-2-24-39-pm/"
data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.24.39-PM.png?fit=243%2C366&ssl=1"
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data-image-title="Kalimans" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.24.39-PM.png?fit=199%2C300&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.24.39-PM.png?fit=243%2C366&ssl=1"
src="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-13-at-2.24.39-PM.png?resize=292%2C440&ssl=1"
alt="" width="292" height="440"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-16616" class="wp-caption-text">General
Williams Kaliman, head of Bolivia’s military</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>For his part, deposed President Morales has
claimed that a member of his own security team was
offered $50,000 </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/evoespueblo/status/1194345391728320513"><span>to
betray</span></a> <span>him.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>While U.S. </span><a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-election-trump/trump-bolivia-events-boost-democracy-send-signal-to-venezuela-nicaragua-idUSKBN1XL2CE"><span>President
Donald Trump</span></a><span> cheers on a “</span><span>a
significant moment for democracy in the Western
Hemisphere,” Bolivians are suddenly under the control
of a de facto military regime. </span></p>
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