Events in Bolivia follow script of ‘color revolution’ – the antithesis of democracy

Events in Bolivia follow script of ‘color revolution’ – the antithesis of democracy

From the claim of a ‘stolen’ election to the opposition burning ballots and the forced resignation of President Evo Morales, the events in Bolivia have followed the script of the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević occurred on 5 October 2000

It has now been established, and it surfaced literally just hours after the coup, that Srdja Popovic’s infamous CANVAS/Otpor outfit on the operational level was thoroughly embedded in coup preparations.

Srdja Popovic is CIA’s instrument who has already tested recipe to bring down governments legitimately elected by the people and bring servants to the West.

The former leader of the “Otpor” organization that “democratically” overthrew many governments around the world is also behind the Bolivian coup.

From its inception, however, Otpor was funded by the International Republican Institute (IRI), which employs a number of former American military, diplomatic and intelligence personnel. Otpor's American funding was documented by the New York Times, as well as Paul McCarthy of the National Endowment of Democracy (NED), who confirmed that the Endowment has spent $3 million in Serbia since 1998, mostly to fund Otpor. In a similar vein, USAID has spent $25 million in Serbia.

According to American sources, Otpor received over $2.6 million in funding prior to October 5, 2000, and another $800,000 from February 2001 to November 2002.

To prepare for their mission, members of Otpor were trained in courses organized by the U.S.-funded NGO (NED, Soros foundations) all of them consider as shield of covert CIA operation and had support from certain media in Serbia. Otpor leadership attended training sessions in neighboring countries, organized by the retired U.S. Army Colonel Robert Helvey, an expert in subversion (e.g. organizing and managing mass protests, resisting police, overthrowing governments without using violence, etc.).

Otpor members were trained by CIA officials, through a network of NGOs. Retired Army Col. Robert Helvey, CIA's highest-ranking official in Burma between 1982¬1984, was the principal lecturer to Otpor trainees in Budapest and Montenegro.

In March 2000, IRI paid the travel expenses for 20 or so Otpor members to attend Helvey's lecture. As IRI representative Daniel Calvingart  notes, the Institute has spent around $1.8 million in Serbia. Part of that money went to Otpor. USAID has spent around $25 million, of which several hundred thousand went to Otpor as well.

Another little-mentioned person involved in the establishment of Otpor was George Ward, a specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). He was a high-ranking CIA official in Germany (1989-92) and Namibia (1996-99).

Otpor activists have set up the Centre for Non-Violent Resistance. After having helped youth movements from Tbilisi in 2003, they got in contact with Pora, the biggest Ukrainian youth opposition movement in the spring of 2004. In April there were even some eighteen young people that traveled to Serbia for a course on organizational and negotiation skills, street protest tactics, and how to monitor the elections to be able to fight possible fraud. Their experiences have helped youth groups to act, both in Tbilisi and Kiev. Currently Canvas maintains training programs for dissidents in many countries including Belorussia and Venezuela.

The NKPJ condemns the coup in Bolivia and the overthrow of the elected President of the country, Evo Morales and expresses its solidarity with the people of Bolivia.