• Bolivia: WikiLeaks expose US conspiracy | Green Left Weekly
    http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48367

    The secret US cables released by WikiLeaks show how such a scenario was already envisaged months before by the US embassy.

    A December 12, 2007 cable assessed the situation within the military. It said that, faced with conflict, the government could “at best” rely on only “sporadic and half-hearted compliance from a minority of commanders”.

    Based on intelligence gathered from military officers, the cable concluded: “Although they can be expected to protect government infrastructure and transportation, most commanders are likely to sit out any violent confrontation with opposition forces.”

    Field commanders were “prepared to stand down and confine their troops to barracks”, even if a written order was signed by Morales.

    Evidence for this was provided by a source that “was on hand when a high-ranking civil defense officer told the commander in Tarija Department to demand a written order from President Morales if asked to take action against opposition leaders or demonstrators”.

    “If they received such an order, the officer advised non-compliance and a post lock down to commanders from Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and Tarija.”

    #bolivie #ameriques #wikileaks