Reply #17: Webs of intrigue tangle Bolivia conspiracy case

[Judi Lynn]

Webs of intrigue tangle Bolivia conspiracy case
Submitted by WW4 Report on Thu, 04/30/2009 - 12:45.

Bolivian authorities say the dismantling of a commando made up mainly of foreign mercenaries could lead to the people behind around a dozen different attacks carried out since 2006 in the city of Santa Cruz. Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera said the attacks were aimed at destabilizing the government of Evo Morales and were to culminate in the assassination of the president. He said business leaders and landowners in the eastern province of Santa Cruz were financing the clandestine operations by the five alleged terrorists, three of whom were shot and killed by the police.

The leader of the opposition-controlled Senate, Santa Cruz businessman Oscar Ortiz, questioned the official report that the men were killed in a shootout, and said he suspected they were simply murdered by the police. According to witnesses, however, police had attempted to arrest the men in downtown Santa Cruz, and they fled to a hotel, where a half-hour shootout came to an end when the alleged plotters reportedly detonated a grenade inside their hotel room.

Santa Cruz governor Rubén Costas, Morales' most prominent political opponent and one of four governors who have sought autonomy for their provinces, initially suggested that the supposed assassination plot was staged, although he is now demanding an impartial investigation. The right-wing Santa Cruz Civic Committee, led by local business leaders and landowners, is demanding to see the evidence and photos of the commando that the government says it has.

No investigation has so far clarified the months-long escalation of bomb and arson attacks that have targeted the homes of cabinet ministers, government officials and opposition leaders in Santa Cruz since Morales took office in January 2006. However, the April 15 attack on the Santa Cruz home of Roman Catholic Cardinal Julio Terrazas, which was carried out with military-style plastic explosives, caused a public outcry. Terrazas was out of town at the time of the attack, for which no one claimed responsibility.

More:
http://www.ww4report.com/node/7262