dead but president said safe (Bolivian President )

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

dead but president said safe
By Carlos Valdez
ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:15 a.m. July 21, 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia – A Venezuelan military helicopter often used to transport Bolivian President Evo Morales crashed in central Bolivia, but Morales was not aboard and is safe, Bolivia's defense minister said Monday. Five crew members were reported killed.

Morales had used the Super Puma helicopter on Saturday and was scheduled to fly in it again on Monday, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel told reporters. He said those killed were “people linked to presidential transport.”

The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, San Miguel added.
Morales uses two Super Puma helicopters lent by the government of leftist ally Venezuela for his travel within Bolivia.

The helicopter took off around 3:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Sunday from Bolivia's central city of Cochabamba, where it had stopped to refuel. It was headed for the northern Amazon city of Cobija when Cochabamba air officials declared an emergency, noting the chopper was down.

It was not located until dawn on Monday, when a farmer reported the crash in the village of Colomi, a mountainous area about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of La Paz, San Miguel said.



Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080721-0715-bolivia-helicoptercrash.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good. Venezuelan oligarchy uses this opportunity to blast Chavez.

Caracas, lunes 21 de julio, 2008
Nacional y Política

Opposition asks Venezuelan government for explanation for helicopter crash

Antonio Ledezma, leader of opposition Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP) party, asked on Monday the Venezuelan government to give an explanation for the Venezuelan helicopter that plunged into the land in Bolivia, killing four Venezuelan militaries and one Bolivian officer.

The Venezuelan Super Puma military helicopter used to transport Bolivian President Evo Morales during his frequent trips to the provinces.

"Not only a million-dollar aircraft was lost; but four Venezuelans lost their lives. There was an accident of a Venezuelan helicopter dedicated to President Evo Morales," said Ledezma. "Why does a Venezuelan helicopter intervenes in Bolivia? Why was it appointed to President Evo Morales? he wondered.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/07/21/en_pol_art_opposition-asks-vene_21A1818479.shtml
Opposition newspaper

[Bacchus39]

2. its a fair question. 5 people were killed, and why were they ferrying Morales to and fro

surely Bolivia has at least one functioning copter.

[damntexdem]

3. Well, Bolivia had crashed a lot of copters in the past killing military strong men.

Or maybe Morales figured he'd be safer with a Venezuelan copter than one operated by rightwingers in his own military. Maybe it took the Bolivian rightwing till now to 'get to' the Venezuelan copter.

[ret5hd]

4. I think Bacchus is upset that..

all of those thousands of dollars wasted on ferrying Morales around could have been spent on literacy programs or healthcare or jobs training for the poorer citizens of venezuela.

or maybe its because those thousands represent money stolen from venezuelas elite that could have been spent on facials and boob-jobs.

[bitchkitty]

9. LOL - or because Judi Lynn keeps slapping him in the face w/ the facts! n/t

[endarkenment]

12. Or they are all upset about a botched assassination attempt.

[Judi Lynn]

5. You're so right they've got some hard right military officials. Rumsfeld made a deal with them once

it was determined Evo Morales was going to win the coming election by a healthy majority, to simply remove Bolivia's hand held anti-air missiles, as discussed in this blog:

23 December 2005
Evo Morales faces his first problem: what happened to Bolivia's air defence missiles?
President-Elect Evo Morales of Bolivia met the outgoing President Eduardo Rodriguez to discuss the handover of power yesterday. However, the new President faces a problem with the USA even before taking office. Put simply, what happened to Bolivia's air-defence missiles?

The country had 28 or 30 Chinese built HN-SA hand-held anti-aircraft missiles that seem to have vanished from the military's arsenal. By all accounts they were stolen by the American Embassy with the conivence of Bolivian military officers, during May or June of this year. It is reported that they were taken aboard an unmarked C-130 transport aircraft and removed from the country.

When Evo Morales first made these allegations last month, the Bolivian army claimed that the missiles had been disposed of as part of an "annual disposal of obsolete equipment," and the army also claimed that the weapons were still in the country. However, army reports which were released this month show that the missiles, which cost Bolivia about £1,000,000, were well-maintained and had ten more years of service left in them.

At this point I fully expect some idiotic hand-shandyist for war to write in and tell me that 30 missiles will not protect anyone from the American armed forces. Don't bother, lads, because I know this. Besides, it's not the point.

The point is that the theft proves that the United States has pretty thoroughly infiltrated the Bolivian army. Should a future President Morales act against America's interests, and he has already said that he will, then the Americans can remove him as they have done so many before him. They would not need to send in the marines, they could set the scene as they did in Chile and then leave it to the locals to do their dirty work for them.

More:
http://www.the-exile.info/2005_12_01_archive.html

Also, in this article:

US Denies Removal of Bolivian Missiles Was Secret
By David Gollust
Washington
23 December 2005

In-Depth Coverage
The United States denied Thursday that it removed anti-aircraft missiles from Bolivia without the knowledge of top officials in La Paz. The State Department says the operation was at the request of Bolivian authorities and in line with an Organization of American States resolution.

Officials here acknowledge that the United States removed a small number of MANPADS, man-portable air defense system, from Bolivia earlier this year as part of a broader effort to keep the shoulder launch missiles out of the hands of terrorists.

But they are denying charges from Bolivia, which figured in that country's presidential election campaign, that the operation was conducted without the knowledge of senior Bolivian officials.

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, the victor in last Sunday's election, has alleged that the 28 Chinese-made missiles were spirited out of the country in June in an operation he described as international intervention.

He says he will press for an investigation of the affair and is quoted as saying he would punish those responsible and evict U.S. military advisers from the country.

Questioned about the issue here, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said U.S. officials had worked with the Bolivian government on the removal of a small quantity of missiles he said were in a deteriorating condition.

He said the removal came at the request of the Bolivian government consistent with an O.A.S. resolution last June and said suggestions to the contrary are untrue:

"As for who was told in Bolivia about the action, you'll have to talk to the Bolivian government about that. As for these other allegations, it's just not true. This was done at the request of the Bolivian government, and it was done in partnership and consistent I would note with an Organization of American States resolution on the matter," he said.

More:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/12/mil-051223-voa01.htm

Also:

MAS Denounces Serious US Interference in Bolivia
Prensa Latina || October 19, 2005

Bolivian presidential candidate Evo Morales denounced Wednesday that troops at the service of the US seized 28 land-air missiles supplied by China to Bolivia and sent them to the United States.

In his news conference, Morales said that "patriotic soldiers" who opposed the operation that took place a few days ago reported the despicable interference to his political party, Movement towards Socialism (MAS).

Consulted by phone, presidential spokesman Julio Pemintel refused to comment and said he had requested information on the matter from Defense Minister Gonzalo Molina.

Morales explained that a Bolivian commando force commanded by elements from the US Embassy and the CIA were involved in the seizure.

He denounced that the group raided an army facility in Viacha, near La Paz, where the missiles were seized and taken to the airport or to El Alto military base, and then were smuggled out of the country by air, supposedly bound for the US.

The weapons had been provided to Bolivia by the People's Republic of China, in accord with bilateral military cooperation agreements.

http://www.knowledgedrivenrevolution.com/Articles/200510/19_US_Bolivia.htm

Their right-wing is truly extreme, too. Klaus Barbi lived there after escaping what would have been his fate in Europe after WWII, with the assistance of the CIA, and he was completely active in Bolivia's fascist government himself. There's a truly loathesome number of these racist bigots there still, in succeeding generations.

[Turbineguy]

6. Never get into anything maintained by

Right-wingers. Everybody knows they are idiots.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. Odd sub-headline...

My first thought was, "Well, I suppose you can't get much safer than dead."

[bitchkitty]

8. Thank the Lord he's safe!

I've been afraid of something like this for both him and Chavez, and to a lesser degree, Correa. I'll be very interested in what the "official cause" of the crash will be...

[Judi Lynn]

10. I know the feeling, bitchkitty. By the way, there was what appeared to be an assassination plot

around a month ago, and after a day or two, there wasn't another word on it. Here's a short article:

Ecuadorian police foil presidential 'assassination plot'
Posted Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:21am AEST

Ecuadorian police have arrested four men, including three Colombians, over an alleged plot to kill President Rafael Correa.

Relations between both countries have been strained since a Colombian raid on a guerrilla camp inside Ecuador in March.

Ecuadorian officials say that while the details of the plot remain unknown, it is clear that the men had contracts to attack the President.

The men were reportedly arrested in possession of photos and maps of the presidential palace and nearby streets.

But Mr Correa himself says he is unconcerned and that there is a strong possibility that the men are simply con artists who were trying to extort the Government.

He said the men had demanded money for information on the plot and that there were dozens of similar cases every month.

More:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/14/2274651.htm

~~~~~~~~~~
These three men, Chavez, Morales, Correa will need to keep tight security EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY.

http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/04M3aN61Mw8cW/610x.jpg

The three leaders with Uribe, _Bush's little friend. Hope they will be safe for a long, long time.

http://www.cbc.ca.nyud.net:8090/gfx/images/news/photos/2007/03/11/bush-colombia-cp-161514.jpg

Uribe with pal.

http://elvocerous.com.nyud.net:8090/portal/images/stories/noticias/latino_america/bush_chavez.jpg

"Walk this way"

[bitchkitty]

14. I love that pic...

And I just have to say, in case I haven't before, that Rafael Correa is one fine looking papi! :)

[TaffyMoon]

11. I'm sure the CIA is crawling all over the South American

Leftist governments and looking for Pinochets everywhere.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Bolivian president suspicious over helicopter crash

Bolivian president suspicious over helicopter crash
July 26, 2008, 12:36 pm

LA PAZ (AFP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales has voiced suspicions about the crash of a helicopter he used last week that killed five people, saying the incident was "probably not accidental".

Morales flew aboard the Super Puma on Sunday in southern Bolivia and was scheduled to use it again on Monday to travel from La Paz to the northern city of Cobija, said Defense Minister Walker San Miguel.

But the helicopter, lent to Morales by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, crashed one hour after Morales got off on Sunday.

The four Venezuelan military personnel and one Bolivian major aboard were all killed in the crash, said Defense Minister Walker San Miguel. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Morales told a political rally that the disaster was "probably not accidental," bolstering his supporters' claims that it was an attempt to harm the leftist leader.

More:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/4826258/bolivian-president-suspicious-helicopter-crash