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Mayo 14, 2005
The "T" Word
Shortly before noon, dynamite detonated in the Suzuki jeep of a Petrobras employee at their offices in Santa Cruz. No injuries were reported, but it has led to a certain amount of fear that this conflict over the Gas Law could take a violent turn.
Later, CDs were left at a local telephone call center for delivery to the television stations. Those CDs contained a message from a group calling itself the Frente Nacional Anticorrupción (FNA), who claimed responsibility for the explosion.
That afternoon, Government Minister Saul Lara labeled the act as a terrorist act. He even went as far as saying it was peculiar that the act coincided with a planned march by the social movements.
But in the message broadcast on the airways, the members of this group reiterated that they were not terrorists…yet.
“We went to clarify that the National Anticorruption Front are not terrorists.”
But later,
“Mr. Bush, the natural resources in Bolivia belong to the Bolivians….we ask that you ensure that they are returned to Bolivia, if you do not, we will turn to terrorism.”
Demands were made with a deadline of 15 days which the group is
calling for:
Total recuperation of Hydrocarbons for the refounding of YPFB, as well as the recuperation of all capitalized industries such as LAB, Entel, Enfe (railroads) and the San Cristobal mine.
Total confiscation of the property of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada
The creation of an Anticorruption Ministry, which will be independent of the State.
However, Evo Morales continues his conspiracy theories by speculating that Mesa and his government planted the dynamite themselves in order to “satanize” and “penalize” the social movments that have planned to march to La Paz. That view was also shared by MNR spokesperson Luis Eduardo Siles who thought it was odd that the government had an immediate reaction to the explosion.
Some interesting reporting on the video from El Nuevo Dia:
The accent used by the speaker appeared to be from Central America
The text directed to George Bush was read in English, no word how well the speaker spoke English.
The message used a phrase “mal nacido” which was an insult to the former President, and that that figure of speech is not widely used in Bolivia.
Posted by eduardo at Mayo 14, 2005 11:58 AM