Bolivia and the American taxpayer
Events are developing so quickly in the Bolivian uprising, most notably being reported on by Jim Shultz of Democracy Center at his blog that it's difficult to keep up.
The armed forces are now out on the streets to keep the peace. They promptly shot and killed a demonstrator on Thursday.
If the government decides to attempt to violently put the rebellion down it will be doing so with some U.S. trained soldiers. The Bolivian military has many graduates of the Fort Benning, Georgia-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in its ranks.
A few excerpts from an email circulated by School of the Americas Watch on Thursday:
There are rumors that the conservative powers around the Bolivian Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez could call out the military to put a violent end to the protests and blockades. Diez could rely on hundreds of SOA graduates within the Bolivian armed forces to take action against their own people.
***
In January of 2000, just months after it took over control of the water system of Bolivia's third largest city, Cochabamba, the California-based Bechtel corporation hit water users with enormous price increases. These increases forced some of the poorest families in South America to literally choose between food and water.
Thousands took the streets, and in response the Bolivian President and former military dictator, SOA graduate Hugo Banzer, sent out the armed forces to attack civilians. A plainclothes officer, behind a line of uniformed soldiers, fired into the crowd. Victor Hugo, 17, was killed with a bullet through his face. The sniper, Captain Robinson Iriarte de La Fuente, attended a combat weapons training course at the SOA.
Iriarte and Banzer aren’t the only SOA graduates. According to the Andean Information Center, Cochabamba’s new military governor, Gen. Walter Cespedes Ramallo, is also an SOA grad. He was the Commander of the Joint Task Forces (a combination of military and police forces) in the Chapare coca-growing region in 1998. During road blockades and resistance, 15 farmers were killed, others were brutally tortured and many were wounded.
The armed forces are now out on the streets to keep the peace. They promptly shot and killed a demonstrator on Thursday.
If the government decides to attempt to violently put the rebellion down it will be doing so with some U.S. trained soldiers. The Bolivian military has many graduates of the Fort Benning, Georgia-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in its ranks.
A few excerpts from an email circulated by School of the Americas Watch on Thursday:
There are rumors that the conservative powers around the Bolivian Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez could call out the military to put a violent end to the protests and blockades. Diez could rely on hundreds of SOA graduates within the Bolivian armed forces to take action against their own people.
***
In January of 2000, just months after it took over control of the water system of Bolivia's third largest city, Cochabamba, the California-based Bechtel corporation hit water users with enormous price increases. These increases forced some of the poorest families in South America to literally choose between food and water.
Thousands took the streets, and in response the Bolivian President and former military dictator, SOA graduate Hugo Banzer, sent out the armed forces to attack civilians. A plainclothes officer, behind a line of uniformed soldiers, fired into the crowd. Victor Hugo, 17, was killed with a bullet through his face. The sniper, Captain Robinson Iriarte de La Fuente, attended a combat weapons training course at the SOA.
Iriarte and Banzer aren’t the only SOA graduates. According to the Andean Information Center, Cochabamba’s new military governor, Gen. Walter Cespedes Ramallo, is also an SOA grad. He was the Commander of the Joint Task Forces (a combination of military and police forces) in the Chapare coca-growing region in 1998. During road blockades and resistance, 15 farmers were killed, others were brutally tortured and many were wounded.
posted by Steve Fake at 6/10/2005 01:00:00 AM
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