Andean Group - 8 March 2005

Evo Morales is planning to replicate his party in neighbouring countries, starting with Peru in April and following with Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. He announced this in late February, days after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had told the US Senate that she was 'concerned' about Morales's party - a remark magnified in the retelling which Morales has been playing to full advantage.

What is known about the initiative is that a Peruvian version of Morales's Movimiento al Socialismo-Instrumento Polí­tico por la Soberaní­a de los Pueblos (MAS-IPSP, to give it its full formal name) will be launched on 9 April in Sicuani, a city just over 100 kilometres southeast of Cusco, renowned as the site where the Peru-Bolivian Confederation - the alliance on which Chile waged war - was founded in 1836. The promoters are 'a Peruvian peasant organisation', according to Carlos Cusihuari, leader of a 'civic committee' that has taken the name of that historic confederation.

Cusihuari told the press that the new party, 'basically indigenist', will seek to 'consolidate the worker-peasant-student movement'. Morales, who did not identify the organisers, said that 'they have advanced and my presence, with a strong delegation from Bolivia, will solely be to strengthen and support their initiative.' In an interview published on 25 February by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Morales said that the idea behind the 'internationalisation of the MAS' is 'to promote pro-sovereignty movements based on the social movements of Latin America, to curb the arrogance of imperialism and strengthen democracy.'

When asked if this was not a new version of the 1960s efforts to 'export revolution' throughout Latin America, Morales said, 'If we are talking about sharing political instruments for the liberation or revolution of our peoples, we welcome that. But the MAS does not export militarist interventions or economic models of hunger and misery, as the US does. Nor do we export policies of submission and economic pillage of our natural resources. Our actions will be framed by democracy, the political constitutions of the states, and the conscience of the peoples.'

Morales told El Mercurio that he had planned a trip to Santiago in April 2003 to assess the prospects of creating a Chilean version of the MAS, but that his trip had been blocked by 'sectors of the oligarchy and fascism'. However, he added, 'We have close relations with the Mapuche and several social actors in Chile. At any moment we will reactivate our efforts: the MAS could be in Chile as well.' [Oddly, he did not mention his fellow Aymara of northern Chile, who his rival Felipe Quispe includes in his vision of Collasuyo, the independent Aymara homeland.]

The Llapanchik connection
Llapansuyo did not get off the ground, but a local indigenous party in Apurí­mac, Llapanchik ('All Together'), founded earlier that year, did prosper. Llapanchik emerged as an offshoot of the Frente de Defensa Regional Agrí­cola de Apurí­mac (Fedra), a local peasant organisation famous for having staged huge protests against the Fujimori régime in demand of more attention to rural problems. In the 2002 elections Llapanchik won three provinces and 13 municipalities in Apurí­mac, and its candidate was the runner-up for the regional presidency. Since then there has often been talk of a link between Llapanchik and Morales.  

The party has continued to be involved in efforts to create a broader indigenist party in Peru. In early 2003 it teamed up with parties and organisations from seven other departments (Arequipa, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Juní­n, Lima, Moquegua and Puno) to set in motion the first 'political school for ayllu self-government' - the ayllu being a present-day version of the Incas' basic communal unit. The participants also established a national coordinating body for regional parties, movements and civic associations.

In May they organised a public gathering to influence the new political parties legislation, attracting organisations from six more departments: Amazonas, Ancash, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Pasco and Piura. Contacts were also established with cross-regional organisations, such as the Coordinadora Nacional de Comunidades Afectadas por la Minerí­a (Conacami) and the Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (Aidesep).  

Last year it seemed as if the big party would finally be launched in September, and Morales was invited to attend (but did not turn up when the initiative faltered). It is worth noting that the etnocaceristas were not invited to join in this endeavour, at any stage.

The coca link
Morales and Llapanchik do have one thing in common: just as Morales's initial powerbase was the confederation of Bolivian coca growers, part of Llapanchik's political powerbase is to be found among the coca growers of the Apurí­mac valley. Unsurprisingly, another Peruvian who has maintained contact with Morales is Nelson Palomino, the currently jailed secretary-general of the Confederación de Productores Agropecuarios de las Cuencas Cocaleras (CPACC, the umbrella coca-growers' association).  

Also often cited as part of the circle of Morales's Peruvian acquaintances is the independent congressman Michel Martí­nez, leader of the Frente de Defensa del Agro de Apurí­mac, instrumental in the creation of Llapanchik, frequent facilitator of encounters between the coca growers and the government and, more recently, would-be mediator between Antauro Humala and the authorities during the former's seizure of the Andahuaylas police station [RBS-05-01].

Sensing a conspiracy
Given these connections, it comes as no surprise that Peruvian intelligence sees a vast conspiracy in the making. The 'investigative unit' of the Lima newspaper La República says it has learnt from 'police and military intelligence' that they have detected 'coordination' between Morales and leftwing Peruvian political leaders linked to the coca growers. The evidence cited was telephone and email traffic, intercepted since February 2004, between Morales and Patria Roja (an originally Maoist party that grew from the same root as the Sendero Luminoso guerrillas).

This coordination, says the paper, is part of 'a strategic plan of the leftwing parties and organisations of various Latin American countries who are seeking a comeback by creating a "Bolivarian force". With that aim, these parties of leftist leaning (of Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru) need the support of indigenist movements to be able to present themselves as defenders of peasant causes.' La República's 'high-ranking police intelligence source' is cited as saying that there are 'indications, not yet confirmed, that the leftwing parties are being financed by the Farc.'

The same newspaper had earlier cited intelligence sources as having concluded that the likeliest source of funding for Antauro Humala's etnocaceristas are the Cí­rculos Bolivarianos, the network of pro-Chávez associations Venezuela has been promoting across Latin America and beyond. In late January, the outgoing chief of the US Southern Command, General James Hill, said that Morales was being funded by Chávez .

A more elaborate version was provided in early February by a US academic, Michael Radu, in FrontPage magazine. Radu is senior fellow and 'co-chair' of the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center on Terrorism and Counterterrorism. He sees, spreading throughout South America, an 'Indio-fascist' movement which embraces Morales's MAS, Felipe Quispe's Movimiento Indí­gena Pachacuti and the CSUTCB peasants' union; Ecuador's Pachakutik indigenous party, and the umbrella indigenous organisations Conaie and Ecuarunari; and Humala's Movimiento Etnocacerista, more formally known as the Movimiento Polí­tico Nacionalista (MPN) in Peru.

Radu says, 'The Indio-fascists are closely linked to each other, with essential outside help. Thus, in Peru, a certain indigenous group, "Llapanchik," is related to Evo Morales' MAS and, one must add, has at least one supporter, Michel Martí­nez, in the Peruvian Congress. The Humalas acclaimed Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez when he visited Peru, and they themselves traveled repeatedly to Caracas, where they also met Evo Morales [...] That Chávez supports Evo Morales, politically and financially, is known.'

The Condoleezza factor
Compared with these scenarios, what Condoleezza Rice said on 16 February was tame. Prompted by Senator Lincoln Chaffee to hold forth on what he described as the curious growth of the 'coca growers' party', she merely said she was concerned about it, as well as about President Carlos Mesa's other 'challenges', then went on to talk about US aid for Bolivia.

Morales milked what little she said for all it was worth, and more. 'This is not concern,' he said, 'it is interference in Bolivia's political affairs. [...] If anything should happen to Evo Morales's life it will be the responsibility of the US government [because] they are surely preparing some attempt on the lives of MAS leaders.' In a lighter mood, he concluded, 'Condoleezza Rice has become my campaign manager.'