Leopoldo Fernández

Leopoldo Fernández (in the middle) used to be the prefect of Pando, one of the various prefects from the east of the country who have become the official opposition to the democratically elected government of Evo Morales. Two weeks ago, the international press widely reported the situation of civil unrest in the region due to ‘confrontations between supporters of the government and opposition forces’.

It now seems clear that the so-called confrontations were in fact violent and organised assaults on government institutions and NGOs in the region by a small and armed opposition funded paramilitary groups. The worst excesses of these groups took place in Pando where 18 indigenous MAS supporters were ambushed and massacred-with more than 100 unaccounted for-resulting in the state of siege for the region.

What has occurred since those events beggars belief. Thankfully, the main accused of instigating the massacre, Fernández himself, has been arrested and is awaiting trial. There is also in situ a commission from UNASUR led by a renowned human rights lawyer who is currently investigating the events surrounding the massacre. However, supporters of the prefect feel aggrieved enough to cry they are being persecuted by the state because their leader has been arrested whereas the Supreme Court appears to be more interested in perpetuating a tradition of impunity than in bringing about charges against the main suspect. Meanwhile, ‘death lists’ are being posted in town squares against indigenous leaders, peasants and elected members who are seen to support the current process of change. A sign of how far things need to change in this country.

See below for more on the massacre:

http://machetera.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/this-is-what-a-coward-and-a-murderer-looks-like/

American Airlines Staff

You will have heard that 35 years to the day a US-sponsored coup overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile, the US ambassador-this time to Bolivia- was asked to leave the country after being accused by President Evo Morales of conspiring with the opposition to bring about a civil coup against the elected government.

The expulsion was linked to a spate of violence led by armed thugs funded by the opposition that has resulted in the ambush and deaths of around 30 indigenous people in the Pando region, all clearly part of a wider strategy to derail the process of political change the Bolivian people have consistently demanded through the ballot box.

The news has not received the attention it deserves as the world’s financial system stood on the brink of collapse for most of last week. But for those of you interested in US-Latin American relations, you might want to know about the reaction of American Airlines to this. Citing a state of civil unrest in the country, the company stopped all flights to Bolivia-the only airline to do so-and kept this for about a week.

Thankfully flights have resumed and I have been able to return to Bolivia but not before hearing through Karen what one unidentified staff member of American Airlines in Miami had to say about the reasons for the company’s stance. ‘As long as he [Evo Morales] is alive, I don’t think American Airlines will be flying to Bolivia’. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.