VZCZCXYZ0017
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #1951/01 2562157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 122157Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8473
INFO RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS LA PAZ 001951 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA A/S SHANNON, DAS MCMULLEN AND WHA/EX ROBERTSON 
STATE ALSO FOR S, D, P, E, T, M, G, R, S/ES, S/ES-O, A, CA, 
DS, RM, H, L, PA,PM AND USAID - CARDENAS 
USCINCSO FOR COMMANDER AND POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT AEMR CASC KFLO AFIN ASEC BL
SUBJECT: BOLIVIA: REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZED DEPARTURE 
 
REF: LA PAZ 1942 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and action request:  After intermittent 
clashes in the past weeks, the level of violence in Bolivia 
has increased dramatically with deaths, wounded, and troop 
movements.  Air traffic into the country is limited due to 
difficulties and uncertainty at the Santa Cruz commercial 
airport.  Food and fuel are unavailable in some areas of the 
country and is expected to become scarce in La Paz in the 
coming days.  Mission employees have been or are being 
removed from areas of high-tension such as the Chapare, Santa 
Cruz, and Trinidad (Beni department).  President Morales' 
anti-American rhetoric has worsened recently, and the 
government informed us that Ambassador Goldberg was persona 
non grata on September 11.  President Morales' Movement 
Toward Socialism (MAS) allies are blaming the Mission and 
Ambassador Goldberg for the recent strife and deaths in the 
country.  The potential for general violence is rising, and 
there is an increasing possibility of another attack on the 
Embassy, particularly with the expected USG announcement 
regarding drug certification scheduled for September 15. 
Previous evacuations have shown that due to La Paz's 
geographic situation (in a bowl with limited egress and where 
access to the airport can be easily cut off) it is important 
for us to drawdown as soon as there is a credible risk, as 
there is now.  Action request (para 6): the Ambassador 
requests, consistent with EAC recommendation, authorized 
departure for non-essential employees and eligible family 
members (EFMs) and delegated authority to approve travel of 
employees and family members at post who do not elect 
authorized departure.  End summary and action request. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ongoing tensions between the opposition departments 
of the media luna (Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando, Beni) and the 
ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) government erupted 
September 10 into widespread violence.  Opposition groups 
forcibly took government installations such as tax offices 
and state telephone company equipment. In the hydrocarbon 
producing region of the Chaco, opposition forces took over 
pipelines and gas fields and threatened refineries.  These 
actions resulted in an explosion at one pipeline which burned 
for a day.  Violence between opposition civic groups and 
MAS-aligned campesinos resulted in a reported 35 deaths on 
September 11 in the northern department of Pando (bordering 
Peru and Brazil.)  The government has agreed to meet with 
Tarija opposition Prefect Mario Cossio September 12 at 1800 
for talks but all previous attempts at dialogue have failed. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The government is moving troops and armored vehicle 
regiments toward Santa Cruz and the Chaco gas fields. 
President Morales is also calling on his MAS-aligned social 
groups (cocaleros from the Chapare, cooperativist miners, 
indigenous militia) to fight against the opposition. 
Opposition groups worry that the troop movements may be 
intended to arrest their leaders, an act that would likely 
provoke more riots and bloodshed. 
 
¶4. (SBU) President Morales has consistently alleged that the 
USG "foments conspiracy" with the opposition.  After the June 
9 attack on the chancery, Morales publicly congratulated the 
organizers of the demonstration.  Our requests for 
confirmation of our physical security under the Vienna 
Convention have been met with weak, not reassuring answers. 
We have reports of another large protest planned for the 
Embassy in the next week.  Also, some contacts tell us that 
angry MASists from El Alto (the city of one million mostly 
MAS-supporters where the airport and many roads connecting La 
Paz to the rest of the country are located) may intend to 
come into the southern residential area of La Paz, targeting 
opposition homes.  All Embassy housing is located in the 
southern residential zone. 
 
¶5. (SBU) President Morales's cocalero followers have already 
evicted USAID from the Chapare, and on September 9, the 
government asked DEA to leave the Chapare based on cocalero 
threats and DEA has been told subsequently that they are 
indefinitely out of the Chapare.  In light of the 
government's anti-American rhetoric and encouragement of 
violence against the chancery, the EAC recommends authorized 
departure in increments of thirty days, a recommendation 
which the Ambassador endorses.  At the same time, political 
instability and civil unrest in Bolivia can resolve 
themselves quickly: violence can be followed by normal 
patterns of activity within days.  Keeping the Embassy 
appropriately staffed and the community reasonably cohesive 
will require flexibility based on judgments made at ground 
level.  The Ambassador requests, again consistent with EAC 
recommendation, that the Department delegate to the Charge 
the authority to approve personal or official travel of 
employees and EFMs who are at post when departure is 
authorized and who have not elected to leave under authorized 
departure. 
 
¶6. (U) Action request: (1) Authorized departure for thirty 
days for non-essential employees and EFMs; (2) Delegation to 
the Charge for travel decisions for employees and family 
members not "caught out" at the time authorized departure is 
granted. 
GOLDBERG