Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 06LAPAZ1159, NATIONALIZATION AS GRAND POLITICAL GESTURE

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06LAPAZ1159.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06LAPAZ1159 2006-05-02 17:18 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy La Paz
VZCZCXRO4144
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLP #1159/01 1221718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021718Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9024
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5799
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 3094
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 6957
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4199
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1495
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 1463
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 3748
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 8680
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3097
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 77
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LA PAZ 001159 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/IL LAUREN HOLT 
LABOR FOR ILAB TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EINV ENRG ECON PGOV SOCI PREL BL
SUBJECT: NATIONALIZATION AS GRAND POLITICAL GESTURE 
 
 
LA PAZ 00001159  001.7 OF 002 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: By announcing the nationalization of 
Bolivia's hydrocarbons sector, President Evo Morales has 
again proven himself a master of the grand political gesture. 
 Timed to coincide with the kick off the campaign for the 
Constituent Assembly and accompanied by the symbolic taking 
of gas fields by Bolivian armed forces, the announcement has 
been enthusiastically received by a vast majority of the 
population and is likely to boost the government's sagging, 
though still high, popular support.  Morales did not announce 
the expected labor day-focused increase to the minimum wage 
or derogation of the infamous privatization decree 21060, 
instead calling nationalization the "best gift of all" to 
Bolivian workers.  The nationalization announcement was a 
quintessentially populist gesture that has played extremely 
well in Bolivia's political theater, but its longer-term 
economic consequences, particularly on the investment 
climate, appear grave.  End Comment. 
 
2.  (SBU) Whatever else it brings (see septel), President Evo 
Morales May 1 announcement of an executive decree 
nationalizing the country's hydrocarbons resources was a 
grand political gesture performed by a populist political 
master.  The mood in Plaza Murillo in downtown La Paz 
adjacent to the national palace, as more than ten thousand 
mostly mixed race and indigenous Bolivians waited expectantly 
for their president to speak, was festive.  The band played 
revolutionary songs, firecrackers exploded overhead, and many 
people waved two-sided flags - one side Bolivian, the other 
Cuban.  In his initial announcement, made just after noon, 
President Morales' voice was piped in from the department of 
Tarija -- where he spoke, appropriately, from one of 
Bolivia's largest gas fields -- while Vice President Garcia 
Linera, members of the cabinet and other party luminaries 
waved grandly from the palace balconies to the crowd below. 
In the late evening, Morales appeared in person in plaza 
Murillo to give a second speech to the still-waiting masses, 
this time highlighting an anti-imperialist (and indirectly 
anti-American) theme and pledging that the nationalization of 
the mining and forestry sector would follow. 
 
3.  (SBU) The atmosphere throughout the day was manifestly 
one of a political campaign getting underway -- May 1 also 
marked the initiation of the 60-day campaign period for the 
scheduled July 2 election of representatives to the 
Constituent Assembly -- and the government party got off to a 
great start.  Popular reaction to the announcement has been 
overwhelmingly positive.  Some observers have described a 
feeling of widespread "euphoria" that the government has 
followed through with a key campaign promise in a manner that 
resonates deeply with most Bolivians.  One opposition Senator 
described it as "explosive," particularly the media coup 
associated with the symbolic taking of gas fields by 
Bolivia's armed forces (septel).  Others have commented on 
the brilliance of its organization and execution, coming as a 
kind of May surprise and followed up by a barrage of 
carefully timed and packaged publicity on national radio and 
television.  Almost everyone believes the announcement will 
help shore up the Government's popular support, which had 
sagged from 80 to 62% in a poll released in late April, 
particularly among its social sector bases. 
 
4.  (SBU) Contrary to widespread expectations, Morales did 
not announce any labor-specific measures on the International 
Day of the Worker.  Many media and other observers believed 
he would take the opportunity to raise the minimum wage or to 
nullify the infamous privatization decree 21060 -- 
particularly Article 55, which allows employers to hire and 
fire workers freely.  Instead, Morales let nationalization do 
the political trick, calling his announced decree the "best 
gift of all" to Bolivian workers.   All told, the 
government's move successfully outflanked a planned march by 
the splintering Bolivian Worker's Central (COB), and appeared 
to take the wind out of the sails of any potential radical 
 
LA PAZ 00001159  002.7 OF 002 
 
 
social sector challenge.  Sounding like a scratchy broken 
record, COB executive secretary Jaime Solares criticized 
Morales for failing to announce "nationalization without 
indemnification" and for refusing to raise the minimum wage. 
Some news reports suggest that Morales will announce the 
minimum wage hike today (May 2), but many observers believe 
he may save that ruse until the political need arises again 
down the line. 
 
Comment: Short-term Gain for Long-term Loss 
------------------------------------------- 
5.  (SBU) Morales' nationalization decree was a 
quintessentially populist gesture made for Bolivia's 
surrealistic political theater, where it has played extremely 
well.  It was the perfect accompaniment for the bells, 
whistles and balloons of yet another campaign season, and has 
surely put the government's disintegrating opposition back on 
its heels.  By contrast, the longer-term economic 
consequences of the action, particularly for the investment 
climate, could be grave.  In that sense, Morales and his 
advisors have again demonstrated a willingness to trade off 
sound economic policy for short-term political gain. 
GREENLEE