Noviembre 24, 2005
Double Standard
The U.S. ambassador at the time, Manuel Rocha, has been blamed for the surprising finish by Evo Morales in the 2002 elections. When he claimed that the Bolivia would risk their foreign aid if Morales were elected, many denounced his statements as interventionist and meddlesome. For some, those comments provided a little extra incentive to vote for the MAS candidate.
This time around the current ambassador, David Greenlee has been forced to hold his tongue, although recently his open-ended statement was left open for interpretation. Many wondered and others opined when he said, “I hope that there will not be any negative changes (in drug policies) because Bolivia would be the country that would suffer.” Critics would say that this statement constitutes as a threat from the country to the north. But others would simply say that radical changes to the drug control policy may bring about unknown results including less pressure on the real criminals.
It’s hard to not get caught in these types of no-win situations, when the U.S. ambassador has its place firmly in the political arena in Bolivia. Whenever something comes up, the press rushes to the embassy for some public comment or reaction. Ideally, the embassy should continue the vague neutral and boring statements that the State Department makes and say “we’ll work with whoever becomes the next President” and stay out of the public spotlight over the next month. The majority of Bolivians would say that the U.S. should “publicly” stay out of internal matters, even they all know that behind-the-scenes there must be some maneuvering.
Now that much of South America has made a move towards the left, other countries are starting to have some influence in Bolivia. So it’s no wonder that foreign officials are beginning to make a pronouncement about these upcoming Bolivian elections. A diplomat from Venezuela, Azael Galero, made a faux pas by pulling a Rocha, on a much larger scale, which others criticized the U.S. for doing.
Venezuelan diplomat Azael Galero compared the Bolivian right-wing candidate for next month's elections, Jorge Quiroga, to Pontius Pilate.
He said Mr Quiroga was defending the "interests of the empire", adding: "you are either with Chavez or with Bush".
Already the Bolivian government has reacted and will bring their concern to Venezuela’s attention. However, this is Morales chance to publicly denounce this similar interference. It would go a long way in proving or not that Morales does not blindly follow Hugo Chavez and can call him out on matters like this.
Update: 11.25 - Alvaro Garcia Linera, MAS VP Candidate said in a press conference: "We have always refused any interference from any embassy; we have always criticized meddling by the US embassy. Accordingly, we do reject interference by the Venezuelan chargé d'affaires." As expected, Tuto Quiroga also condemned the comments.
Posted by eduardo at Noviembre 24, 2005 12:37 PM
Comments
More and more I think this campaign will demonstrate how unprepared Chavez is for a major political contest. He's fumbling the ball too often, opening himself up for too many attacks from someone as crafty & sophisticated as Tuto. You're right, Morales should put his international interests in check, and especially w/ Chavez -- but I just don't think he has the ability to see this kind of "beltway" politics thinking. But the US-educated Tuto does, and he'll use the TV to his best advantage in the next month.
I've already wagered that Tuto will finish as well as Goni in 1993 (about 30% of the vote, control of senate, and almost control of lower house).
Posted by: miguel (ciao!) at Noviembre 24, 2005 04:34 PM
I think is dagerous to underestimate Chavez. He's gotten pretty far in politics. I mean, he wants to build the Bolivarian republic and people are taking him serious. That must say something about his abilities. I take him as a dagerous man or someone to be taken seriously, at the very least.
Posted by: Miguel (mabb) at Noviembre 25, 2005 04:45 AM