UNASUR only listened to Evo or “UNASUR solo escucho a Evo”

This is at least the main headline used by news TV channel UNITEL last Friday 21 November to greet the unveiling of some of the main conclusions reached by a high-level special commission tasked with conducting an enquiry on the Pando massacre of indigenous people on 11 September.

You will remember that the current president of UNASUR, Michelle Bachellet appointed this group of investigators led by a human rights expert, Argentinian Rodolfo Mattarollo in the wake of the September massacre and at a time when the political situation in Bolivia looked extremely delicate.

The final UNASUR report was delivered to Michelle Bachellet on Tuesday 25 November. It is interesting to check the main conclusions of this report because they contradict every single argument presented by the opposition to deny the events ever took place, question the veracity of the accounts, even pretend that the video evidence of the events was constructed. What are its main conclusions?

First: Contrary to arguments by the opposition, there are 18 deaths that have been confirmed. Another 70 people are still unaccounted for, presumed dead. Because many of the bodies were thrown in the river, it is thought these bodies will never be recovered.

Second: Contrary to arguments by the opposition, there was no armed confrontation between two groups. Instead, there was an ambush of hundreds of unarmed indigenous people travelling to a nearby community.

Third: Contrary to arguments by the opposition, this ambush was perpetrated by an armed militia consisting of employees of the prefecture and members of the local ‘civic committee’.

Fourth: Contrary to arguments by the opposition, there is more than indicative evidence to suggest that the ambush was premeditated and executed according to a plan masterminded from the prefecture.

It is horrifying to see civilians in public positions armed with submachine guns shooting at defenceless indigenous people. It is absolutely unbelievable that elected opposition MPs like José Villavicencio should appear on the video, not trying to stop the shooting but, ‘interrogating’ one of the kidnapped survivors of the massacre to try to extract a confession on camera that incriminates a local MAS MP and ‘proves’ that the victims were armed.

And to top it all, we have that a number of news organisations were present in the town of Porvenir at the moment the massacre took place. A microphone of the TV channel ‘Pat’ is clearly visible during the ‘interrogation’ of one of the people kidnapped. It seems, some of these organisations had been warned previously of what was coming, the same organisations whose video has now been aired by the public prosecution against the accused and who deny the events ever took place or argue the video has been shot in a studio.

The videos (4 of them), are available on the following link and make chilling viewing:
http://foro.univision.com/univision/board/message?board.id=190097542&message.id=47376

The opposition, aided by a majority of TV channels, have begun a propaganda campaign against this report and the judicial measures against the main accused, ex-prefect of Pando Leopoldo Fernandez, in prison since September, and another 20 people who worked for him. These are 20 of the more than 3500 who worked for him in a department with a population of no more than 60000.

The first part of the campaign included the headline in the title, followed by interviews with two opposition MPs who denied any legitimacy to the high-level UNASUR commission, accusing them of partiality, lacking any mandate to conduct their investigation and attempting against Bolivia’s sovereignty.

The second is the interviewing of some of those responsible for the massacre who escaped to nearby Brazil, to claim their status as ‘political refugees’ persecuted by a tyrannical and authoritarian state. And thirdly, some TV ‘analysts’ have brought out their ‘experts’ to continue to claim that the video evidence of the massacre has been manipulated to justify the political persecution of the opposition.

UNASUR president Michelle Bachellet has announced that impunity cannot be left to reign in Latin America like it has done for too long. The commission’s enquiry on the events in Porvenir is part of this process. Yet, given the current events in the judicial process against Leopoldo Fernandez and his lackeys (this is for another day, I’m afraid) it is difficult to believe justice will soon arrive to Bolivia.