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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON PGOV TBIO BL
SUBJECT: GOB NAMES LEFTIST CABINET 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Morales announced the 16 members 
of his cabinet January 23, the majority leftist, indigenous 
and from the altiplano.  Morales exhorted the new cabinet to 
change Bolivia, integrate marginalized members of society, 
eliminate corruption, and serve -- not exploit -- the people. 
 He created two new ministries, Justice and Water, and 
eliminated the Ministries of Indigenous Affairs and of 
Popular Participation.  The Ministry of Campesino Affairs and 
Agriculture has been revamped as the Ministry of Rural 
Development and Agriculture, and the Ministry of Sustainable 
Development appears to be evolving into a planning ministry, 
which may supervise the Ministries of Finance and Economic 
Development.  Following are the names, positions, and brief 
biographies of each cabinet member, including four women and 
several affiliates of the left-leaning La Paz university, 
Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA).  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) - Minister of Foreign Relations, David Choquehuanca 
Cespedes (DOB 5/7/61): Indigenous leader with Marxist and 
nationalist tendencies who was a founder of the MAS party and 
has served as Evo Morales' personal adviser on political and 
indigenous affairs.  He has also run key European NGOs in 
Bolivia, including NINA, that have focused on training 
indigenous leaders.  He holds a degree in indigenous law from 
the Cordillera University in Bolivia, and may have been 
educated in Russia.  He supports small farm production and 
coca growers.  It is rumored that he has served as the 
treasurer for MAS for many years.  After his appointment as 
Minister, he delivered an address, partially in Aymara, 
agreeing with Morales to change Bolivia's neo-liberal 
economic model.  Choquehuanca is from La Paz; he is married 
with two children. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of the Presidency, Juan Ramon Quintana 
Taborga: Quintana has served as a Major in the Bolivian army 
and as a political analyst for the Defense Ministry, holds a 
Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and a Master's Degree in 
Philosophy and Political Science from UMSA, and has undergone 
infantry training in Fort Benning, Georgia.  Quintana was 
born in 1959 in Cochabamba.  He speaks some English and some 
Quechua.  A MAS convert in 2004, he has stated to the press 
that it is essential to stop U.S. payments to Bolivian 
soldiers to eliminate U.S. interference in the Bolivian 
police and military.  Quintana was part of Morales' political 
transition team, and is reputed to be anti-American. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Government, Alicia Munoz (DOB 9/12/51): 
Formerly a MAS senator from Oruro, she is the first woman to 
serve as Minister of Government.  An anthropologist with 
strong interests in human rights, she played a crucial role 
in Embassy efforts to get a Trafficking in Persons Law passed 
in the waning days of the last Congress and has done much to 
promote women's rights and improve working conditions in the 
agricultural sector. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Education, Felix Patzi Paco (DOB 
2/21/67): A sociologist by training, Patzi was formerly the 
Director of the Social Research Institute of UMSA and is a 
good friend of VP Alvaro Garcia Linera.  In his books, he 
proclaims the end of neo-liberalism and affirms that the 
indigenous movement is the driver of the new hegemony in 
Bolivia.  Patzi, an ethnic Aymara, hails from La Paz 
department.  During his speech to the new ministers, Morales 
encouraged Patzi to contact Cuban experts to discuss Cuba's 
plans to help Bolivia eradicate illiteracy. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Hydrocarbons, Andres Soliz Rada (age 66): 
Attorney and radical journalist who founded CONDEPA, a 
leftist political party, who dedicated much of his writing to 
analyzing natural resource issues and criticizing 
privatization and neo-liberalism.  Supports nationalization 
of gas and has stated that the hydrocarbons companies are 
 
stealing from Bolivia.  Former congressman (elected in 1989 
and again in 1997); former senator (elected 1993). 
Hydrocarbons representatives previously stated that if he 
became hydrocarbons minister, it would be a disaster for the 
industry.  Following his appointment, Soliz stated that his 
first task would be to be sure that multinational petroleum 
companies are not claiming Bolivia's gas reserves as their 
own.  He said the reserves, worth US$ 120 billion, would 
enable the country to take steps towards industrialization. 
He is known for being "aggressive" and "explosive." 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Finance, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (DOB 
9/28/63): An economist by training, Arce holds a masters 
degree from the University of California (UCLA) and another, 
also in economics, from Warwick University in the United 
Kingdom. A native La Paz resident, he has worked as a 
professor at UMSA.  He also worked for eighteen years at the 
Central Bank as sub-director for international reserves.  He 
may be expected to report to Minister Villegas, with whom he 
is said to have a close relationship (see below). 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Sustainable Development/Planning, Carlos 
Villegas Quiroga (age 56): Economic analyst and professor of 
development sciences at UMSA, Villegas was in charge of the 
MAS' Economic Transition Commission and accompanied Morales 
on his pre-inauguration world tour.  He holds a Bachelor's 
Degree in Economics from UMSA, a Master's Degree in Economics 
from the Center of Research and Economics Teaching (CIDES) in 
Mexico, and a Doctorate in Development Sciences from the 
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico. He is from 
Potosi, and does not have any public sector experience. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Economic Development, Celinda Sosa Luna: 
Hailing from Tarija, Sosa served as head of the MAS' Social 
Transition Commission.  She has spent most of her 
professional life as a labor leader, and is a representative 
of the Women's Documentation Center.  After her appointment 
as Minister, she stated that Bolivia must negotiate a Free 
Trade Agreement with the U.S. under conditions of equality 
that ensure balanced and just development.  She is also 
expected to focus on support for microenterprise.  Sosa is 
married with three children. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Public Works, Salvador Ric Riera (age 
56): Businessman from Santa Cruz who supported the MAS during 
the elections.  He holds a Ph.D. in diplomacy, and is the 
owner of an automobile importing company, a supermarket 
chain, and several other Santa Cruz businesses. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture, Hugo 
Salvatierra Gutierrez:  Santa Cruz lawyer and labor advisor 
who holds a degree from UMSA.  As the MAS candidate for 
governor ("prefecto") of Santa Cruz, he placed third on 
December 18. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Justice, Casimira Rodriguez: Rodriguez 
served as Director of the Latin American Federation of 
Domestic Employees and won the 2003 World Methodist Peace 
Award for her activism in promoting the 2003 Domestic Workers 
Law.  She began working as a domestic servant at age 13 under 
difficult conditions, which led her to be an activist for 
domestic workers' rights. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Water, Abel Mamani Marca (age 40): Leader 
of FEJUVE, the El Alto neighborhood federation, which helped 
topple two Bolivian presidents during protests in June 2005 
and October 2003.  He studied dentistry but never completed a 
degree.  As Minister, he has promised water service 
throughout the country and to resolve the Aguas de Illimani 
water dispute in El Alto.  Mamani is married with three 
children. 
- (SBU) Minister of Health, Nila Heredia Miranda:  Former La 
Paz Department Director of Health, Vice President of UMSA, 
President of the Medical School at UMSA, and member of the 
Communist Party.  Ms. Heredia is from Potosi, and is a 
surgeon.  Ms. Heredia was exiled to France in 1976. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Defense, Walker San Miguel Rodriguez: 
Formerly President of the La Paz Lawyer's Union, as well as a 
practicing lawyer specializing in commercial and 
constitutional law.  He previously worked for a Bolivian 
airline (LAB) as an executive.  Rodriguez is viewed as a 
leftist opportunist and not necessarily a MAS true believer. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Mining, Walter Villaroel (age 47): Leader 
of mining cooperatives.  Villaroel is from Potosi, and is 
married with four children. 
 
- (SBU) Minister of Labor, Santiago Galvez Mamani (DOB 
12/15/58): From La Paz, Galvez studied industrial chemistry 
and business administration, but never obtained a degree.  He 
has 27 years of experience working in Bolivian factories, 
where he held a variety of positions.  He is married with 
three children. 
 
- (SBU) YPFB (Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, 
the state oil company), Jorge Alvarado:  MAS candidate for 
governor ("prefecto") in Cochabamba, who placed second.  Has 
worked as a consultant for the World Bank.  Reportedly, 
Alvarado has links to Venezuela and wants to strengthen 
Bolivia and Venezuela's hydrocarbons relationship. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Comment: Morales' cabinet is more representative of 
Bolivian society than his congressional candidate lists were, 
as it includes women and persons of indigenous origin.  It is 
heavily balanced in favor of the western highlands 
(altiplano) in terms of geographic representation, with a few 
key ministers from the eastern part of the country named to 
placate Santa Cruz and the business sector.  It is no 
surprise that the cabinet leans hard to the left, and that 
approximately two-thirds have no prior government experience. 
 End comment. 
GREENLEE