Reply #12: Apparently the occassional poster will prove he doesn't stay informed, [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

by posting complete drool. I only have time to drop off a little information, but it should help. Active DU'ers already know very well how often and bitterly the _Bush administration, dating back to the days of Collin Powell, hurled insinuations and threats in Evo Morales direction. We discussed it here long ago.

Here's a quick google grab which may or may not help throw some light. I didn't have time to read all of it, unfortunately, as I'm in a rush:

~snip~
As they have with Chavez, the United States government and its lapdogs in the mainstream media have vilified Morales. Morales and Chavez are both portrayed as "threats" to the United States and have been characterized as "enemies". It is mind-boggling that the leaders of the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of humanity can view these men or their tiny nations (neither of which have the military might to overpower the state of Rhode Island) as legitimate threats. Is the US power elite suffering from delusional paranoia? Actually, their fears are well-founded, but one needs to analyze the situation a bit more closely to discern the root cause of their trepidations.
(snip)

Juan Evo Morales Ayma was born in 1959 in Orinco to a family of indigenous Quechuans, but moved to Chapare province in the 1980's to cultivate coca leaf. Growing coca leaf is a practice dating back to the Incan Empire. While the Indigenous people of Bolivia, who comprise over 50% of the population, chew coca leaves to ease hunger and make folk medicines, coca leaf is also the primary ingredient in cocaine. As part of its "War on Drugs", the United States began a program in the 1990's to eradicate coca production. In 1998, Plan Dignity, a barbaric and violent US-sponsored effort, resulted in the elimination of nearly 80% of coca production and left the campesinos in Bolivia with no economically viable alternative crops to cultivate. Supplied and supported by the United States, the Expeditionary Task Force, a paramilitary unit which the locals called "America's Mercenaries", reportedly engaged in violence and murder. Just imagine if Canada financed paramilitary forces in the United States which wiped out 80% of the production of Sudafed and Iodine because they are used in the manufacture of crystal meth. How long would Americans stand for that?

In response to the intrusive, oppressive policies of the United States and its puppet Bolivian president, Hugo Banzer, Evo Morales emerged as a leader of the Cocaleros, an opposition movement comprised primarily of coca growers. His support in Chapare and Carrasco de Cochabamba was strong enough that he was elected to the national Congress in Bolivia in 1997 by the widest margin amongst the 68 Congresspeople who won in that election.
(snip/...)

http://www.counterbias.com/471.html

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Coca Grower Killed in Bolivia

Andean Information Network
February 7th, 2002

January 30, 2002 -- At approximately 5:15 p.m. yesterday, January 29, an Expeditionary Task Force patrol dispersed a group of coca growers attempting to block the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz highway in Shinahota. According to eyewitness testimony, members of the forces shot directly at a group of farmers on a market road perpendicular to the highway.

The forces shot Marcos Ortiz Llanos (34 years old) in the left side. The bullet exited his right side, apparently passing through his heart and remained lodged in his right arm. He died soon afterwards in the Villa Tunari Hospital. The forensic specialist of the Justice and Human rights Center is performing the autopsy at this time and will issue the corresponding medical certificate.

Multiple eyewitness testimonies state that Cnl. Aurelio Burgos Blacutt (School of the Americas Graduate, 1974) aimed and fired directly at Ortiz. Burgos is easily identifiable because he is missing his left forearm.

Several other people were wounded in the incident. Members of the Expeditionary Task Force continued to beat coca growers with nightsticks and kick them after the shootings.

On December 6, 2001 a member of the Expeditionary Task Force, Juan Eladio Bora, shot and killed Chimore Union Leader, Casimiro Huanca, during a peaceful protest. Another member of the Force shot Fructuoso Herbas, who had to have his leg amputated above the knee as a result.

This irregular mercenary force receives salaries from the Narcotic Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy and has been credibly implicated in a significant portion of the human rights violations committed during the last five months in the Chapare region. Off the record, security force commanders told AIN that clearly the Expeditionary Task Force let things "get out of hand" last year.
(snip/...)

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1753

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Dark Armies, Secret Bases, and Rummy

by Conn Hallinan
~snip~
The Movement Toward Socialism's presidential candidate Evo Morales, a Quechuan Indian and trade union leader who is running first in the polls, wants to renationalize the deposits. Polls indicate that 75% of Bolivians agree with him.

Failed States and Intervention But the present political crisis over upcoming elections Dec. 18, and disagreements on how to redistribute seats in the legislature, has the United States muttering dark threats about “failed states.”

U.S. General Bantz J. Craddock, commander of Southern Command, told the House Armed Services Committee: “In Bolivia , Ecuador , and Peru , distrust and loss of faith in failed institutions fuel the emergence of anti-U.S., anti-globalization, and anti-free trade demagogues.”

Bolivia has been placed on the National Intelligence Council's list of 25 countries where the United States will consider intervening in case of “instability.”
(snip/...)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=HAL20051124&articleId=1322