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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #1201 3251157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211157Z NOV 06
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6067
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7138
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7601
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2625

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 001201 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD 
 
DEPT PASS USTR 
 
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: BOLIVIA; SAO PAULO 
 
 
¶1. "Autocrat In The Making" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo 
(11/21) editorialized: "The coup that Bolivian President Evo Morales 
attempted against the Constituent Assembly and the nation's fragile 
institutions has become a reality.  It is no longer possible to 
conceal the authoritarianism of the Bolivian leader, who, by 
following Hugo Chvez, does not hesitate in proposing shamefully 
antidemocratic measures.... The coup was carried out because Morales 
and his Socialist Movement (MAS) were only capable of electing 52.5% 
of the constituents.... Morales' agenda to annihilate adversaries 
and institutions includes a bill authorizing the Congress, which is 
dominated by the MAS, to depose governors; six of the nine are in 
the opposition.... Morales' political authoritarianism contrasts 
with his increasingly soft attitudes in the economic sector.  He 
seems to be convinced that the recipe to perpetuate himself in power 
includes splitting the nation, destroying the opposition and getting 
along with the multinational companies, which, domestically, he 
pretends to fight. Dictatorships are usually produced by these 
factors." 
 
¶2. "Endangered Democracy In Bolivia" 
 
An editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (11/21) asserted: 
"A diligent follower of Colonel Hugo Chvez, President Evo Morales 
is revealing a great ability to use democratic instruments to 
undermine democracy.... Under the appearance of democratic normality 
and the majority's votes, the basic rules of the Constituent 
Assembly and of the election of its members were changed after the 
electoral process. The plundering of the Bolivian incipient 
democracy is not limited to that.... A bill that Evo Morales demands 
to be approved authorizes the Congress and/or the President to 
depose governors who commit 'serious flaws' in performing their 
duties.  In other words, it establishes conditions to immediately 
impeach governors elected by the people. When one sees that six out 
of nine Bolivian state governors are in the opposition, the true 
goal of Morale's maneuver becomes clearer.... He wants to have 
available tools to get rid of troublemaker adversaries, and to do 
that he does not hesitate in sacrificing the minimum of 
institutional stability Bolivia has today.  It is also clear that 
Morales' main target is the governor of Santa Cruz, because it is 
from that province that he expects major resistance to the radical 
land reform bill the Chamber of Deputies has just approved." 
McMullen