| | |  Americas & Beyond | December 2008 
Bolivian Opposition Criticizes 'Massacre' Report
 Associated Press
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| | Bolivian President Evo Morales listens to The Union of South American Nations report during a ceremony at the presidential palace in La Paz, December 3, 2008. The UNASUR commission presented the Bolivian government the conclusions of investigations on the September 11 strikes between farmer supporters of President Evo Morales and autonomy activists in Pando province. (Reuters/David Mercado) | |
La Paz, Bolivia — Bolivian opposition leaders accused an international commission Thursday of bias toward President Evo Morales in its report on a September jungle "massacre" in which at least 19 people were killed.
This week's report by the Union of South American Nations names 19 people confirmed killed in the clash in Pando province, including 17 Morales supporters and two opponents.
Both sides of Bolivia's bitter political divide agree that more than a dozen people were killed in the violence, triggered by riots by anti-Morales protesters demanding greater autonomy in the lowland east.
They also agree that most of the dead were Morales' peasant supporters, who had set out dislodge the rioters from government offices they had ransacked days earlier.
But opposition leaders accused investigators of favoring Morales supporters' testimony over that of pro-autonomy groups, and of reporting unsubstantiated allegations – including charges that anti-Morales factions raped young girls.
"It seems to me this was a report made to measure for the government," Pando Sen. Paolo Bravo told The Associated Press. "They accepted the testimony from one side as truth, but said testimony from the other side had no validity at all."
Lead investigator Rodolfo Mattarollo, an Argentine, said told La Razon newspaper that testimony from opposition groups Unasur found responsible for most of the killings was less credible and didn't match evidence.
"We consider this an organized attack against a civilian population," Mattarollo said.
The violence began when factions for and against Morales collided on a dirt highway outside Pando's tiny provincial capital Sept. 11. |
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