From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Date: 14 Aug 92 10:28 PDT
Subject: IPS:Bolivia: Government Admits
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473800261:000:3982
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Aug 14 10:28:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: IPS:Bolivia: Government Admits

/* Written 12:21 am  Aug 14, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: BOLIVIA: GOVERNMENT ADMITS ASKING FOR U.S. MILITARY AID


la paz, aug 11 (ips) -- bolivia tuesday admitted it had asked
washington to increase military assistance, in order to enable
bolivia's army to participate in the anti-drug campaign.

the details, which were hitherto unknown in bolivia, came to
light when the contents of a 1990 letter were revealed from
janet mullins, the state department's secretary of legislative
affairs, to senator alan cranston.

says the letter, ''in 1990, president jaime paz zamora asked
the united states to provide military assistance for the
anti-drug campaign.

''we replied positively, but conditioned our aid to the
u.s. legislative requirements,'' to ensure that ''all this aid
was used for anti-drug purposes.''

confirmation of these disclosures, which came from a u.s.
state department official, placed president paz in a difficult
situation, because it exposed him to criticism of using ''double
standards''-- saying one thing to the bolivians and another to
the united states.

in may 1990 presidents paz and george bush signed the
controversial 'annex iii' of the u.s.-bolivia anti-narcotics
cooperation agreement.

this provides for increased participation of the bolivian
armed forces in the anti-narcotics campaign in exchange for
33 million dollars of u.s. military aid.

the prospect of the bolivian army's participation in the
anti-narcotics campaign had been interpreted in bolivia as the
result of u.s. political pressures on the bolivian government.

however, mullins' letter now confirms that it was the bolivian
government itself that had requested u.s. military aid for the
anti-drug campaign.

confronted with the revelations of mullins' letter, the
government admitted that it was bolivia that had asked for
increased u.s. military assistance, ''but not president jaime
paz zamora.'' (more/ips)


bolivia: government (2)

said a statement issued by the foreign ministry tuesday,
''the negotiations for aid to the armed forces were carried
out through official channels...but it was erroneously
suggested that president jaime paz zamora had personally
solicited such aid...''

humberto borth, bolivia's deputy minister for bilateral
policies, said the drug traffic was affecting national security
and that 'annex iii' of the anti-narcotics cooperation agreement
was in conformity of bolivia's law no. 1,008.

this law authorises the armed forces, including the army,
to take part in the anti-narcotics campaign.

together with peru, bolivia is one of the principal producers
of coca paste, which is obtained from coca plant leaves.

coca paste, on the other hand, is a key ingredient in the
production of cocaine, regularly consumed by more than six
million u.s. narcotics users, according to the u.s. drug
enforcement agency (dea).

washington is providing substantial aid to many latin
american countries fighting the international drug traffic.

the revelation of mullins' letter has sparked an uproar
in some sectors of bolivia's political panorama.

former foreign minister guillermo bedregal, who is now
a member of parliament for the opposition nationalist
revolutionary movement (mnr), said bolivia ''suffers a
humiliation'' when a u.s. government official belies paz
zamora.

on the other hand, gregorio lanza, also an opposition
member of parliament, said paz zamora must explain, as a
token of respect for his country, the accusations which have
been made against him from u.s. government sources.

and alfonso alem, a congressman for the opposition free
bolivia movement (mbl), said, ''from the beginning the government
acted with complete irresponsibility...''
(ends/ips/tr/sp/db/ip/jcr/oh/it)