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DE RUEHLP #0035 0401601
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R 091601Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0653
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
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RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000035

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/09
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM BL
SUBJECT: BOLIVIAN PROSECUTOR TIES TERROR CASE TO CIA

CLASSIFIED BY: William Mozdzierz, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission,
State, La Paz; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

¶1. (C) Summary: The Bolivian prosecutor investigating a 2009
alleged domestic terrorism plot claims that the perpetrators'
leader, Eduardo Rozsa, had been in regular contact with a former
CIA employee and kept him informed of the group's activities in
Bolivia. The prosecutor's assertion is the first specific GOB
allegation of U.S. involvement in the Rozsa affair, in which the
Bolivian government maintains it thwarted an attempt to set up a
separatist military force, as well as a conspiracy to assassinate
Bolivian President Evo Morales. Although the prosecutor stopped
short of accusing the CIA of backing Rozsa's mercenary group, we
can expect that GOB officials will make that claim, regardless of
the evidence. End summary.



¶2. (SBU) Marcelo Soza, the prosecutor in charge of investigating
the April 2009 Rozsa case, announced February 5 that a review of
Rozsa's computer hard drive had uncovered evidence of email
communication between Rozsa and an alleged ex-CIA employee (a U.S.
citizen named Belovays). According to Soza, Belovays had been
active in the Balkans wars, where he supposedly met Rozsa and
became his mentor. An internet search on Belovays suggested that
he has since died, Soza reported (Rozsa and two others were killed
in a police raid; another two suspects are in custody). Soza
claimed that Rozsa's computer files show that Rozsa was in constant
contact with Belovays -- who, Soza said, is assumed to have been in
Bolivia at some point -- and kept him informed of his group's
activities and plans.



¶3. (SBU) Soza did not provide any details of the alleged exchanges
between Rozsa and Belovays, nor characterized Belovays's role
beyond asserting that the alleged former agent had been aware of
Rozsa's conspiracy. The Bolivian press has so far reported the
story straight, sticking strictly to Soza's account but featuring
headlines such as, "Soza Says CIA Knew Rozsa's Plans" and "Rozsa
Informed CIA Agent of Work."



¶4. (C) Comment: Soza's initial claims may be limited in scope, but
we expect that Bolivian government officials will not feel
themselves similarly bound by actual evidence. For nearly a year,
the GOB has maintained that Rozsa and his group represented a grave
threat and that they were backed by enemies of President Morales
(including prominent opposition and Santa Cruz civic leaders, who
are increasingly the target of Soza's investigation). The
Bolivian government is almost certain to seize upon this
opportunity to link the U.S. "empire" to the alleged conspiracy and
substantiate Morales's wildest claims about American skullduggery.
Creamer