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VZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHLP #0750/01 1461945 ZNY SSSSS ZZH P 261945Z MAY 09 FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0824 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 9030 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 6412 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0386 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 7596 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 4642 RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0506 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 4977 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6298 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 7260 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2024 RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 1788 RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
S E C R E T LA PAZ 000750 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM PINR ENVR ASEC PTER BL SUBJECT: LAWYER: GOB INVOLVED IN TERROR, PANDO, YPFB CASES REF: A. LA PAZ 659 ¶B. LA PAZ 635 ¶C. LA PAZ 176 ¶D. LA PAZ 156 ¶E. 08 LA PAZ 2374 Classified By: A/EcoPol Chief Joe Relk for reasons 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (S) Summary: A Bolivian government lawyer who worked closely on the Santa Cruz terrorism case, the investigation into the September 2008 Pando conflict, and the YPFB (state oil company) murder and corruption case provided new information on GOB involvement in all three incidents. In the alleged terrorism case (reftels A, B), the lawyer said high-ranking members of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party hired and eventually had three members of the group killed, planted flash memory drives with false lists of "involved" Santa Cruz businesses, planted the business card of one "suspect," and coordinated the production of a supposedly damning cell phone video. The lawyer detailed human rights abuses against the two surviving suspects in the terrorism case and serious human rights abuses in the illegal arrests that followed the Pando conflict (reftel E). In the YPFB case (reftels C, D), the lawyer personally experienced pressure and bribery attempts by MAS leadership to dismiss the case. End summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Santa Cruz: GOB Set-Up, Killings - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (S) A high level Bolivian government prosecutor trusted by the ruling Morales administration (who wishes to remain nameless) approached Embassy FSN May 19 to discuss his role in investigating three of the major cases in Bolivia over the past year, beginning with the existence of an alleged terrorist cell in Santa Cruz. On April 16, an elite unit of the Bolivian police force killed three alleged cell members in a Santa Cruz hotel and arrested two more. In the days that followed, government investigations yielded confused confessions from the two captured men, lists of Cruceno business leaders supposedly connected with the group, and an almost unintelligible cell phone video of cell members allegedly discussing assassinating President Morales. ¶3. (S) According to the prosecutor, who is a long-time associate of an Embassy FSN, members of the Morales administration were involved in the group's hiring and in setting up subsequent events to cover their tracks and implicate the opposition. The prosecutor related that Morales administration members hired the group, dealing with Eduardo Rozsa, Michael Dwyer, and Arpad Magyarosi, all of whom were killed on April 16. He said the other two group members did not know who had hired them, and it was for this reason their lives were spared in the hotel shootings. He said the MAS wanted to cover their tracks by killing those who knew the government masterminded the sham terror cell. ¶4. (S) The prosecutor noted that in publicly-released photos of the three dead men, the police placed guns on or near the corpses to make it appear there had been a gun battle. However, he said these guns came from the police munitions depot and had never been used, as evident by still-attached safety gear (i.e. plastic inserts used for transport and before a gun's first use). Further, in the autopsy process, he noted some of the bullet holes had been covered up with a type of putty to make it seem as though it was not an execution. According to the prosecutor (and news reports), there was no shootout, and the firing came exclusively from the police as all three were asleep. ¶5. (S) The prosecutor said the group originally numbered seven people, but that two of the group mysteriously disappeared after the bombing of Cardinal Terrazas' home on April 14. He said while most of the group celebrated the successful bombing, the two other members objected to attacking religious figures such as Terrazas. By the next day, the two had vanished. Rozsa reportedly said they had flown out of the country, but the prosecutor suspects they were killed. The prosecutor does not know their identities. ¶6. (S) The prosecutor identified Bolivian National Police Colonel Santiesteban and a Captain Andrade as two of the GOB's primary contacts with Rozsa's group, and said they hired the group. On April 25, government prosecutor Marcelo Sosa publicly revealed a difficult-to-understand cell phone video recording in which Rozsa, Dwyer, and Magyarosi are shown allegedly discussing how they could have bombed (and killed) President Morales during a previous trip by Morales to Lake Titicaca. While Sosa said the main voice in the recording was that of Rozsa and that Rozsa's chauffeur made the video, the prosecutor said he personally knows Santiesteban and identified him as the video's author. He said Colonel Santiesteban's voice can be heard throughout the recording and that he personally led the April 16 police raid in which the three men were killed. ¶7. (S) The two men who were captured on April 16, Mario Tadic and Elod Toaso, were not privy to as much of the information as Rozsa, Dwyer, and Magyarosi, according to the prosecutor. Nevertheless, he said Tadic and Toaso were tortured and showed pictures of the two bloodied, missing teeth, and with broken ribs, bruises, and specific lacerations from being cut with knives. The prosecutor said he took the pictures with his own cell phone and could provide them. The two were taken from the hotel room in only their underwear and transported by plane from Santa Cruz to La Paz. Their whereabouts were unknown for approximately 24 hours, during which time the torture occurred. For a meeting in La Paz with the human rights ombudsman, as required, the prosecutor said they were given used clothing to put on. ¶8. (S) The prosecutor said he met with both men as part of the government investigation and discussed their activities. One confirmed he had a gun in his backpack and that it was his. However, when shown a computer flash memory drive that was also in his backpack, he said it was not his and that he had never seen it before. According to the prosecutor, given the detainee's willingness to admit the gun was his, and after the amount of torturing they had undergone, he believed the statement that the suspect had never seen the flash drive. The prosecutor said there was also a business card in the backpack for Hugo ACHA Melgar, a representative of Human Rights Foundation - Bolivia, and the detainee said he had never seen that before either. (Note: Acha is now one of the government's primary suspects in the case and is reported to be in the United States. End note.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Human Rights Violations in Pando - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (S) After the September 2008 violent conflict in Pando, the GOB engaged in several rounds of illegal detentions, which were questioned in the media as violating human rights. The criticisms centered on violence employed during the arrests, the lack of any government lawyer present as required by law, the hour of the arrests (pre-dawn, a violation), the lack of arrest warrants in many cases, and the lack of access to detainees by human rights groups and the government's own human rights ombudsman. The prosecutor confirmed such violations did occur. ¶10. (S) However, the prosecutor said that in the specific case of Jorge MELGAR Quette, a television commentator who was detained, seemingly for publishing a videotape of Presidency Minister Juan Ramon Quintana saying before the events that ex-Prefect and detainee Leopoldo Fernandez would "sleep with the worms," the human rights violations were much worse. The prosecutor said human rights advocates had been puzzled by the fact that Melgar, who was arrested on October 8 and is still under detention, did not show any signs of punish ment or torture. The prosecutor revealed that Melgar was left for over 24 hours in a separated room in the jail with convicts who were paid by government sources to rape him serially, effectively torturing (and silencing) him without easily visible proofs. The prosecutor said similar treatment was given to three members of the Santa Cruz Youth Union and many others. ¶11. (S) One of the most contested elements of the Pando conflict is whether the marching campesinos were ambushed or if they were well-armed and participated in a conflict that spiraled out of control. The prosecutor said one of the groups of marching campesinos was armed by Miguel "Chiquitin" Becerra, a MAS affiliate. According to the prosecutor, one of the main events that sparked the conflict was the early-morning assassination of Pedro Oshiro, a Prefecture roads maintenance employee. The prosecutor said Oshiro was well-known to both the Pandinos and the marching campesinos, and that he attempted to disperse the march to avoid violence. Perhaps miscalculating the intent of the campesinos, Oshiro was apparently dragged to a nearby car. The prosecutor said forensic analysis showed he was shot from close range with his hands up in front of his face, pleading for his life and trying to protect himself. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YPFB Corruption and Murder Case - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶12. (S) The prosecutor said he was an integral part of the arrest of Santos Ramirez as part of an investigation into a January 27 case involving murder and the theft of a $450,000 kickback delivery. The prosecutor recalled a meeting with three other government investigators in which they discussed whether or not to arrest Ramirez. The prosecutor noted that he had received official orders to make the arrest, that the case was splashed across the front pages of the popular press, and that there was abundant evidence tying Ramirez to the crime. Still, the other three investigators recommended not going after Ramirez, who was well known for his clout as well as his corruption. Fearful that he would be tagged as corrupt himself or open to blackmail if he did not go after Ramirez, the prosecutor went ahead by himself and coordinated Ramirez's arrest. ¶13. (S) Sitting in a room alone with Ramirez after the arrest, the prosecutor said Ramirez asked what it would take to make the case go away. Gesturing to his cell phone, he asked if the prosecutor wanted money, a house, or to be a senator or representative in Congress, and said all he had to do was call President Morales or other contacts. The prosecutor said there was pressure by other Morales administration members to let Ramirez off the hook, including Corruption Minister Nardi Suxo. When it became clear this would not occur, however, the Morales administration acted cannily, announcing to great fanfare that Ramirez's arrest was proof that the government was committed to act against all corruption. - - - - Comment - - - - ¶14. (S) Post has no way to verify the content of this source's statements. However, post FSN emphasized that the two had worked together years earlier investigating human rights violations in the Chapare, that he was honest then, maintains a solid reputation, and that he had no reason to lie. Because the lawyer participated in the Pando investigation sponsored by the government, the MAS trusted the lawyer's involvement in subsequent politically sensitive investigations. From years of experience, the lawyer also apparently has several good contacts within the MAS party and the Morales administration who provided additional information on these cases. End comment. URS
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