On Sept. 10, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced, “Without fear of the empire, I declare the U.S. ambassador ‘persona non grata,’” effectively expelling U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg for his involvement with Bolivia’s right-wing fascist forces. Morales added, “We don’t want separatists, divisionists.”
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The day following the announcement of Goldberg’s expulsion, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela booted U.S. ambassador Patrick Duddy from Venezuela in solidarity with his Latin American ally. Chávez praised Bolivia and accused: “The U.S. is behind the plan against Bolivia, behind the terrorism. … We’re committed to being free.” The Bush administration, in turn, kicked both the Bolivian and Venezuelan ambassadors out of Washington, dismissing Bolivian claims that Goldberg was aiding the fascist forces as “baseless.”
Since 2006, Goldberg has worked as Washington’s liaison with the Bolivian right-wing with the mission of carving away the departments (provinces) of Beni, Pando, Tarija and Santa Cruz, also known as “la Media Luna” (“The Half-Moon”) region.
It is no coincidence that most of Bolivia’s natural resources and foreign investment are within that region. Bolivia has the second-largest reserves of natural gas in South America—an estimated 28.7 trillion cubic feet, with over 85 percent of it in Tarija department. On Aug. 25, against the instructions of the Bolivian government, Goldberg had a 90-minute closed-door meeting with Tarija’s Governor Ruben Costas.
Since his 2006 election, Morales has been fighting for change for the impoverished masses of Bolivia—primarily the country’s indigenous peoples. From day one, the Bolivian oligarchy has been a willing partner to Washington, trying to impede every government initiative that might result in wealth redistribution at the expense of their privilege. Their efforts have picked up steam during the past four months, with U.S.-supported right-wing governors promoting referendums to split the eastern departments of Bolivia away.
Fascist forces take the offensive
Goldberg’s expulsion followed three weeks of right-wing violence throughout Bolivia. During that period alone, attacks by fascist forces killed over 70 civilians, most of them indigenous. Dozens more have been reported missing, leading many to believe that the death count could be much larger. The attacks have involved fascist groups blowing up a gas pipeline, disrupting the flow of natural gas to neighboring Brazil and costing the country over $100 million in lost revenue.
The right-wing groups have blocked highways and cut off the country’s main commercial routes. On Sept. 9, opposition forces occupied a small airport in the city of Corbija. The fascist offensive has involved the burning of government buildings, the ransacking of union and peasant halls, as well as gun stores. Institutions nationalized by Morales for the common good of the people have also been targeted.
During the weekend of Sept. 13, the Bolivian military intervened in the department of Pando, one of the strongholds of the right wing, to restore order. Leopoldo Fernández Ferreira, the governor of Pando, is up to his neck in the right-wing violence: He has funded and equipped paramilitary forces that have killed over 16 indigenous peasants and has paid hitmen from Peru and Brazil to assassinate worker and peasant leaders. Fernández was arrested by the Bolivian army on Sept. 16 and is now awaiting legal proceedings.
The attacks have also occurred in Santa Cruz—the main stronghold of the right-wing opposition. There, Governor Ruben Costas along with Croatian business man Branco Marinkovic and opposition leader Pablo Klinski have led the offensive against the indigenous population.
On Sept. 9, Klinski and the fascist Union of Santa Cruz Youth raided the National Tax Revenue Office in Santa Cruz followed by the National Institute of Agrarian Reform and the National Telecommunication Office. The fascist youths beat workers and police guarding the premises and stole all valuables. Their primary targets have been the impoverished indigenous neighborhoods in Santa Cruz, where they have beaten and killed locals indiscriminately.
The Washington Connection
The explosive situation in the eastern Bolivian departments of Beni, Pando, Tarija, and Santa Cruz has been orchestrated by the Bolivian oligarchy and their fascist organizations in cooperation with Washington. They aim to destabilize the government by spreading violence to force Morales out of office.
Goldberg has extensive experience in the engineering of national divisions. From 1994 to 1996, he assisted Richard Holbrooke in engineering the breakup of Yugoslavia. In 2004, he returned to the Balkans to work on splitting Kosovo from Serbia and Montenegro under the guise of “autonomy.” His expertise lies in the heightening of racial and ethnic divisions, and his work in Bolivia is testament to this.
Working with Marinkovic and Costas, Goldberg has helped destabilized Bolivia by funding opposition campaigns and fascist groups through the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy and U.S. Aid for International Development as well as other, extraordinary means. In June 2007, U.S. citizen Donna Thi, from Miami, was detained at the airport in La Paz, for trying to bring in five hundred 45-caliber bullets, which she had declared to customs as “cheese.”
Waiting for Thi in the terminal was the wife of Colonel James Campbell, the head of the military section at the U.S. embassy in Bolivia. Goldberg intervened immediately to obtain the woman’s release and dismissed the ammunitions smuggling as “an innocent mistake.” The bullets, he said, were for “sport and entertainment.”
Anyone who has flown a plane in the past seven years knows its hard enough to get a nail clipper past security, much less five hundred bullets. The incident speaks to either gross shortcomings in airport security or, more likely, the direct involvement of the U.S. government in the violence in Bolivia.
Preparing for the battle ahead
The increased violence and aggressive destabilization efforts in Bolivia follow the Aug. 10 popular referendum that gave the people an opportunity to recall Morales or any of the country’s governors. Winning with a 67-percent approval, Morales got to keep his seat—but so did three of the four Media Luna governors, with no decisive victory for either camp. The opposition will not shy away from extralegal mean when legal means fail.
The oligarchy also fears a new Constitution, already approved by Congress and to be voted on by the end of the year. Should it pass, it will further cement the social gains made under the Morales government.
The people of Bolivia have not idly sat by in face of imperialist aggression. On Sept. 9, thousands of peasants, union workers, and social organizers encircled the city of Santa Cruz. They closed traffic, confronted opposition groups, and helped protect the targeted indigenous populations.
Juan Varea, the secretary of relations for the peasant organization Santa Cruz Federation of Colonizers, confirmed the blocking of roads heading towards the city as well as the occupation of the large estates and farms in the regions.
“They need to know how it feels when their possessions are taken from them,” said Varea. “We are organizing to begin the blockade of the roads starting at midnight, and from there proceed directly and take control of those lands from the Santa Cruz businessmen.” He added that the blockade of the roads would continue indefinitely until the leaders of the opposition stopped the violence and returned to the negotiation table with the government.
These actions, combined with the massive marches in support of the government during the past months, have shown the rise of a militant working class ready to fight for their gains. Shortly after the violence, the newly created UNASUR—a bloc of South American countries—called for an extraordinary meeting for Sept. 15. The meeting culminated with a declaration of complete support for the democratic government of Bolivia and against attempts to split the country.
Bolivia’s progressive forces are at great risk. A victory for the fascist elements would translate into the anihilation of popular and working class organizations and a complete rollback of recent gains. Washington has clearly identified the Morales government as the weakest link in the Venezuela-led leftward shift unfolding in Latin America, and the damage would be felt well beyond Bolivia’s borders.
For socialists and progressives in the United States, it is essential to defend Bolivia’s self-determination and to relentlessly expose Washington’s behind-the-scenes machinations as the Bolivian masses prepare for the unavoidable confrontation ahead.
