Andean Group - March 2008 (ISSN 1741-4466)

At the end of February the Bolivian government publicly suggested that it might formally request that the US replace its ambassador, Philip Goldberg. This represented the culmination of weeks of tension between the two countries.

Diplomatic relations between Bolivia and the US took a turn for the worse at the end of January when the Bolivian government accused the US of supporting an "irregular" police intelligence structure operating within the country. While the US was quick to reject the charges, on 29 January President Evo Morales announced the dissolution of two police intelligence units: the Task Group for Special Crime Investigation and the Organism for the Development of Police Studies (formerly the Special Operations Command). The latter received US$300,000 annually from the US embassy.

Two weeks later a new diplomatic spat erupted over a fresh spying allegation. A US official, Vincent Cooper, was accused of asking a Fulbright scholar and Peace Corps volunteers to spy on Cubans and Venezuelans in Bolivia. According to US embassy officials, Cooper mistakenly briefed a group of newly arrived scholars and aid workers, asking them to report "suspicious activities", a request which, the US state department subsequently acknowledged, would be an "error" and against US policy. The Bolivian government has since filed espionage charges against Cooper.

Then on 24 February, Morales directly accused Goldberg of leading conspiracy efforts against his government and its new constitution. The president said that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided finance and support to the local political opposition. The government said it was reviewing Goldberg's situation in the country and minister for the presidency, Juan Ramón Quintana, would visit Washington to make a formal complaint.

Critics have nevertheless questioned the seriousness of Bolivia's anti-US rhetoric given continued US cooperation. On 28 February the US house of representatives approved a 10-month extension of trade preferences under the Andean Trade Preference Drug Eradication Act (Atpdea) which was due to expire at the end of the month.