Pronto*

It’s been an interesting past several days in Bolivia, though I’m still not sure how either of the two controversies will end. The first revolves around a series of accusations from the opposition regarding potential vote fraud in the upcoming (August 10) recall referendum. The second involves the case of Georges Nava, the army officer arrested in connection to an explosion at a Tarija television station on the eve of that department’s autonomy referendum. (Ironically, Nava was listed as working for the army’s anti-terrorism unit.)

The first case is less troublesome to me, since such accusations of tampering w/ voter registration rolls are common. Of course, the kind of voter fraud common in machine politics (like, say, Chicago) is less likely in places like Bolivia. Fake or duplicate IDs won’t help voters get past vigilant poll station observers, since voters are required to dip their finger in permanent ink. Ballot stuffing is a more likely scenario, though poll stations are supposed to be manned by representatives from all major parties (at least in regular elections, parties are allowed to send a representative to each polling station).

But revelations that ID cards were being handed out at MAS party offices and the alleged link to Venezuelan operatives were involved are, of course, troubling. Though further revelations that some false IDs were so poorly constructed as to include pictures of scenery (rather than people’s faces) makes the effort look pathetically incompetent.

The second case is more troubling. Shortly after his arrest, Nava confessed to his role in the explosion. He was also found to be in possession of explosives & other illicit material. There’s more, of course. According to La Razón: Nava was in Venezuala days before the explosion, he had files on a USB flash drive that suggests a broader conspiracy, his car was paid for by the Venezuelan government, other documents suggest he managed an “irregular” force, or , etc. The bit about the flash drive seems so much like the FARC laptop recently captured by Colombian armed forces, that it’ll likely be believed or dismissed, based on one’s ideological convictions. But the opposition is taking it seriously, and threatened to issue an arrest for the head of the armed forces, after he declined an invitation to testify at the a Senate investigation on the incident. Yesterday, the government’s DA office removed the Senate from the investigation.

Some of the accusations sound outright fantastical. But this doesn’t make them any less possible (please note, “probable” & “possible” don’t meant the same thing). And w/ the history of covert activities in Latin American (and Bolivian in particular), one has to wonder.

All the while, Evo has been in a row w/ Peru’s president, Alán Garcia. In some ways, it’s as if Bolivia-Peru relations are like a poor man’s version of the Chávez-Uribe show (though w/o the body count). And while Evo damages relations w/ Bolivia’s oldest ally, it has decided to pursue closer economic relations w/ North Korea. David Choquehuanca’s response to questions about why, amounted to simply: “Because we can.” Certainly, the country has the ability to establish relations w/ any country it wants. But I wonder whether it’s in the best interest of a landlocked, developing country to seek economic ties to an international pariah state suffering from famine for more than a decade.

Sometimes, it all just boggles the mind.

Pronto*

a blog about life, politics, and more (since 2002)

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