La Paz – Bolivian President Evo Morales on the weekend accused his predecessor, Eduardo Rodriguez, who governed in 2005-2006, of turning over Bolivian army missiles to the United States to be destroyed in exchange for $400,000.
Morales said Saturday that the cash-for-missiles deal was revealed by officials at the U.S. Embassy here when the scandal – which has resulted in charges against Rodriguez for espionage and submitting to foreign control – broke.
The president asked Rodriguez to turn over the agreement in question because “he can’t hide a document” signed with Washington.
Rodriguez, who was also head of the Supreme Court, has denied forcefully on several occasions the existence of any such agreement, and he has said that he authorized the destruction of the missiles – but not their transfer to the United States – because they were obsolete.
On Aug. 1, the Supreme Court began legal proceedings against Rodriguez for his responsibility in the matter and asked the Bolivian Congress for authorization to begin the trial.
Morales said that the ex-president not only “lied” but also saw to it that all documentation on the matter disappeared and was trying to portray himself as “a victim.”
“This class of people governed Bolivia (and were) disarming the armed forces,” Morales said in a speech he gave Saturday in the central city of Cochabamba before a meeting of peasant coca producers.
The national Congress is controlled by the governing Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, which is also pushing for other trials against former Presidents Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (1993-1997 and 2002-2003), Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002) and Carlos Mesa (2003-2005).
Morales said that he hoped that Rodriguez “does not escape” from the country as Sanchez de Lozada did after his October 2003 resignation amid a wave of social protests that left 60 dead. Sanchez de Lozada fled to the United States, where he currently resides.
