VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #0102/01 0211851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211851Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0499
INFO RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000102 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC PREL PGOV HA BL
SUBJECT: TFHA01: La Paz Media Engagement on Haiti 
 
REF: STATE 5277 
 
¶1.       (U) Summary. Reporting in Bolivia on the U.S. response to 
the earthquake in Haiti has been generally balanced in the 
independent media outlets, while state-run media outlets have 
focused their coverage on GOB criticism and suspicions of U.S. 
efforts.  Embassy La Paz has taken multiple steps to inform the 
independent media in Bolivia of the facts about the U.S. response 
to this disaster. While our actions have had an impact, 
inflammatory rhetoric on the part of President Evo Morales and Vice 
President Alvaro Garcia Linera against the U.S. military presence 
in Haiti has also drawn significant attention in both the state-run 
and independent media.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.       (U) On January 18, Bolivian Vice President Garcia Linera 
accompanied a Bolivian Air Force cargo plane that delivered 
humanitarian assistance to Port-au-Prince.  In comments to the 
press while on the ground in Haiti and upon his return to Bolivia 
on January 19, he claimed that the United States was taking 
advantage of the disaster to occupy Haiti militarily. Among other 
accusations, he made the claim that, "The U.S. military presence, 
in its bases and now its camouflaged appearance in Haiti, is an 
aggression against the continent."  He also said that, "we did not 
see a single U.S. soldier lift a rock or piece of cement."  On 
January 20, this same accusation was echoed by President Evo 
Morales who called the U.S. relief effort a military occupation of 
Haiti that he considers, "unjust, inhumane, and opportunistic." 
Morales then said that Bolivia would ask the UN to convene an 
emergency meeting to reject the US "occupation." 
 
 
 
¶3.       (U)  In light of these and previous statements attacking 
the intentions of the U.S., we have been engaged since the 
beginning of the crisis with all major independent media outlets to 
provide them with updated and translated information about the U.S. 
effort in Haiti.  Embassy La Paz has issued four press releases on 
January 13, 14, 18, and 19 and reached out to 
owners/editors/reporters, providing statements by President Obama 
and Secretary Clinton and facts about the U.S. efforts.  Elements 
of these press releases have been used by many outlets, including 
the La Paz dailies La Raz'n (cir. 30,000), La Prensa (cir. 5,000), 
and El Diario (cir. 3,000).  Embassy La Paz has also circulated 
public-domain photos of the U.S. relief effort with translated 
subtitles, which have been used by El Diario on January 15 and 20. 
We have also set up three interviews with two national radio 
networks, Radio Panamericana and Radio Fides, and with the 
highest-rated television station, Unitel, with the Director of the 
Media Hub of the Americas who is currently in Haiti and who can 
report on the situation on the ground.  These efforts have 
succeeded in giving the independent press a fuller picture of the 
US assistance, as reflected in their reporting. 
 
 
 
¶4.       (U) Major independent Bolivian media outlets have 
generally given balanced news coverage to the U.S. response to the 
earthquake in Haiti, highlighting both positive stories about, and 
criticisms of, U.S. efforts.  All independent television stations 
have included positive images of U.S. search and rescue teams and 
U.S. military personnel in Haiti, but have also aired the negative 
comments made by President Morales and Vice President Garcia 
Linera.  Topics that have received positive coverage include the 
immediate response of the U.S. to make the airport in 
Port-au-Prince operational, President Obama's initial pledge of 
$100 million, the Secretary's visit to Haiti over the weekend, the 
work of American search and rescue teams, and the efforts by the 
U.S. military to deliver humanitarian aid. Criticisms by the GOB 
and others of poor management of the airport, the slow distribution 
of humanitarian aid, and the accusations of a U.S. military 
occupation of Haiti have also been reported. 
 
 
 
¶5.       (U) Editorials and commentaries in the major independent 
media outlets have also been balanced. La Paz daily La Raz????n's 
(cir. 30,000) main editorial on Sunday January 17 was entitled, 
"Signs of Hope" and commented positively about the successful 
international cooperation demonstrated in the relief effort. Father 
Eduardo Perez, an influential radio host on the national radio 
network Fides, has commented favorably about the ongoing U.S. 
efforts, highlighting especially the U.S. military's efforts to 
make the airport in Port-au-Prince functional. Cochabamba daily 
Opinion (cir. 3,000), on the other hand, published an editorial on 
Saturday, January 16 that was critical of the U.S. and European 
countries saying, "Natural disasters cannot be foreseen or avoided, 
 
but behind the tragedy in Port-au-Prince there is a historic 
background for which colonization must take some responsibility." 
 
 
 
¶6.       (U) As opposed to the balanced reporting of the 
independent media outlets, the Bolivian state-owned media outlets 
have been incessantly negative in their coverage of the U.S.  The 
state-run television station, Bolivia TV, has focused its coverage 
on the international and domestic criticism of the U.S. military 
presence, has aired one-sided news reports produced by Telesur, and 
has coincided their coverage of Haiti with the re-airing of a 
documentary entitled "The Flight of the Eagle," which presents 
multiple conspiracy theories about the purported nefarious role of 
the U.S. in Bolivia. The government-owned daily Cambio (cir. 
3,000), has printed articles entitled, "Haiti demands aid and 
doctors, not more U.S. soldiers", "The U.S. sends the military to 
Haiti and unleashes controversy", and "Chaos in the airport 
controlled by the U.S.", among others.  Cambio's editorials have 
echoed the position of the GOB, one of which said, "As discredited 
as the power of the United States is, at least in Latin America, 
those that are really in control of the businesses and the arsenals 
of the White House have found the right moment to launch a strategy 
that will allow them to recuperate territory in the region and to 
direct, not only what will come to be called and what the world 
will know as 'humanitarian aid', but also the politics and economy 
of a country crushed by decades of misery and political 
instability." 
 
 
 
¶7.       (SBU)  Comment. Given that the negative rhetoric from 
high-ranking officials within the GOB is likely to continue, all 
media outlets will continue to report on these criticisms. The 
government-owned press outlets will continue to amplify the GOB 
message and any engagement with them will be ineffectual. We will 
continue to engage the independent media with clear and factual 
messages about the U.S. effort in Haiti to ensure that balanced 
reporting continues in the independent media. End comment. 
 
MINIMIZE CONSIDERED 
Creamer