Irish mercenary implicated in plot to kill Evo?

Donagh · April 17, 2009, 12:29:11 PM

Bolivian police shoot dead Irish man over alleged plot to kill president

Suspects from Hungary and Croatia, as well as Ireland, suspected of attempting to assassinate president Evo Morales

Police uncovered an alleged plot to assassinate Evo Morales.

Police in Bolivia have shot dead three men, including one identified by local officials as an Irish national, over an alleged plot to assassinate the country's president, Evo Morales.

The three were shot during a fierce gun battle after police uncovered an apparent plot which involved suspects believed to come from countries including Hungary and Croatia, as well as Ireland, government officials said yesterday.

Police attempted to arrest a group of men in the centre of Santa Cruz, an eastern Bolivian city and hub of anti-Morales sentiment, but they fled to a hotel where the shootout took place around 4am (9am BST), witnesses and police said.

The alleged assassins detonated a grenade inside the hotel, blowing out its windows during the gunfight, according to police.

Three of the suspects, identified by state media as Hungarian, Irish and Bolivian nationals, were killed. A second Hungarian was arrested, along with a retired Bolivian soldier who had fought in conflicts in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, state prosecutor Jorge Gutiérrez said.

Police said they had foiled the assassination attempt after a raid on a storage facility uncovered explosives, high-calibre telescopic weapons and what appeared to be travel plans for Morales' motorcade, police commander Victor Hugo Escobar told reporters.

Police claimed the group was also responsible for a failed dynamite attack on the home of Santa Cruz's Roman Catholic cardinal, Julio Terrazas, on Wednesday. Why a group of alleged anti-Morales assassins would attack Terrazas, a known supporter of the president's opponents, remained unclear.

Morales said he had learned of the plot against him and the vice-president, Alvaro García, in recent days and ordered the men's arrest on Wednesday.

"I gave the vice-president and the commander of the national police instructions to stage an operation and detain those mercenaries," Morales told journalists in Venezuela, where he was attending a conference.

A statement from the president's office said the alleged assassins included Croatian and Irish nationals, along with members of Bolivia's "far right". It said other cells of the same group still exist in Bolivia and said police would continue to seek them out.

Santa Cruz's governor, Ruben Costas, told reporters that local police were not involved in the arrests and suggested the alleged assassination plot was staged to discredit his government. "The government for three years has repeated allegations of a coup but has never shown any evidence," he said. Costas is one of four governors who have sought autonomy for their provinces.

Morales has accused Costas of encouraging anti-government violence after rioters seized state buildings to block a vote on a new constitution last September. Eleven people died in the skirmishes and a UN report found the president's political opponents responsible.

Morales ejected the US ambassador and Drug Enforcement Administration from the country after accusing American diplomats of supporting the opposition. He also claimed the US organised groups to assassinate him, a charge Washington denies.

glens abu · April 17, 2009, 12:35:24 PM

Quote from: Donagh on April 17, 2009, 12:29:11 PM
Bolivian police shoot dead Irish man over alleged plot to kill president

Suspects from Hungary and Croatia, as well as Ireland, suspected of attempting to assassinate president Evo Morales

Police uncovered an alleged plot to assassinate Evo Morales.

Police in Bolivia have shot dead three men, including one identified by local officials as an Irish national, over an alleged plot to assassinate the country's president, Evo Morales.

The three were shot during a fierce gun battle after police uncovered an apparent plot which involved suspects believed to come from countries including Hungary and Croatia, as well as Ireland, government officials said yesterday.

Police attempted to arrest a group of men in the centre of Santa Cruz, an eastern Bolivian city and hub of anti-Morales sentiment, but they fled to a hotel where the shootout took place around 4am (9am BST), witnesses and police said.

The alleged assassins detonated a grenade inside the hotel, blowing out its windows during the gunfight, according to police.

Three of the suspects, identified by state media as Hungarian, Irish and Bolivian nationals, were killed. A second Hungarian was arrested, along with a retired Bolivian soldier who had fought in conflicts in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, state prosecutor Jorge Gutiérrez said.

Police said they had foiled the assassination attempt after a raid on a storage facility uncovered explosives, high-calibre telescopic weapons and what appeared to be travel plans for Morales' motorcade, police commander Victor Hugo Escobar told reporters.

Police claimed the group was also responsible for a failed dynamite attack on the home of Santa Cruz's Roman Catholic cardinal, Julio Terrazas, on Wednesday. Why a group of alleged anti-Morales assassins would attack Terrazas, a known supporter of the president's opponents, remained unclear.

Morales said he had learned of the plot against him and the vice-president, Alvaro García, in recent days and ordered the men's arrest on Wednesday.

"I gave the vice-president and the commander of the national police instructions to stage an operation and detain those mercenaries," Morales told journalists in Venezuela, where he was attending a conference.

A statement from the president's office said the alleged assassins included Croatian and Irish nationals, along with members of Bolivia's "far right". It said other cells of the same group still exist in Bolivia and said police would continue to seek them out.

Santa Cruz's governor, Ruben Costas, told reporters that local police were not involved in the arrests and suggested the alleged assassination plot was staged to discredit his government. "The government for three years has repeated allegations of a coup but has never shown any evidence," he said. Costas is one of four governors who have sought autonomy for their provinces.

Morales has accused Costas of encouraging anti-government violence after rioters seized state buildings to block a vote on a new constitution last September. Eleven people died in the skirmishes and a UN report found the president's political opponents responsible.

Morales ejected the US ambassador and Drug Enforcement Administration from the country after accusing American diplomats of supporting the opposition. He also claimed the US organised groups to assassinate him, a charge Washington denies.

havnt heard anything about Mr John Adair for a long time

Donagh · April 17, 2009, 01:51:23 PM

The dead man has been named as Michael Dwyer. Considering the amount of United Irishmen who went to fight with 'The Liberator' (Simón Bolívar not Daniel O'Connell) in the independence wars against the Spanish, it would be a pity if someone carrying the name of a United Irish patriot would be the one to sully our reputation in Bolivia - one of the few places we're still well thought off.

Main Street · April 17, 2009, 02:09:58 PM

Not to mention the reputation of the great great great great grandson of Patrick Lynch

Pangurban · April 17, 2009, 06:59:13 PM

Say nothing till you hear more

Our Nail Loney · April 17, 2009, 06:59:54 PM

Tommy Tight Lips will be ripping!!!

The Subbie · April 17, 2009, 08:40:18 PM

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/content/view/11706/219/

Got this link from boards where a discussion is going on about this ,some pd/blue shirt/west brit types on saying sinn fein connection blah blah blah, then someone cliaming to be a mate of yer mans comes on saying he was out there traveling and his only interest in gun etc is paintball/air soft But this is fishy lads, check out the video, some grusome footage so if your just after the tay proceed with care but the room they are filmed in does not look like its been the epicentre of a 1/2 hour gun battle with grenades going off.

Puckoon · April 17, 2009, 08:45:04 PM

Thats brutal, why are they all stripped down?

The Subbie · April 17, 2009, 09:01:32 PM

its rough all right but i did say so, that seems to be a constant in Latin American news programmes, bit of politics, bit of scandel then 20 mins of the aftermath of crashes and shoot outs

any way theres somthing strange bout the whole thing

Treasurer · April 17, 2009, 09:55:35 PM

Story just doesn't add up.

Donagh · April 18, 2009, 12:16:49 AM

Quote from: Puckoon on April 17, 2009, 08:45:04 PM
Thats brutal, why are they all stripped down?

It's shorts and tee-shirt country. Can't say for certain if it's the reason in this case but I was in Santa Cruz a few years back and it has a jungle climate. You're talking 30+ degrees all year round and extremely high humidity. Just about everyone walks around in shorts and bare-bellies. Though I must admit something is a bit strange about the initial reports coming out...

Puckoon · April 18, 2009, 01:55:38 AM

I cant imagine the weather having anything to do with these guys being filmed lying there in their underwear, especially if they were assasins.

Seems very weird.

longrunsthefox · April 18, 2009, 01:49:00 PM

If the Irish News report is correct of the messages and photos he left on facebooks (whatever you call them) are correct he seemed to be a bit of a nutter. Certainly wasn't too secretive about his agenda and lifestyle.

puskas · April 18, 2009, 03:27:49 PM

Very murky. Supposed to have been a shoot-out yet there were no casualties/wounded apart from the three dead. Plus taking on commandoes in your underpants doesn't seem wise. Rozsa-Flores is quite well-known in Hungary, where he played himself in a decent film in 2001, Chico, about his life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBWbDXhNrHo. Bit of a character to say the least, he went on a journey from Bolivia to Chile to Hungary to Spain to Croatia, from Judaism to Islam, and from far-left to far-right. Set up the International Brigade in Croatia in 1991 and was considered by many a hero in Croatia. Implicated however in an alleged cover-up of the murder of 2 British journalists who were investigating the Brigade's neo-Nazi links.

longrunsthefox · April 18, 2009, 04:22:42 PM

Quote from: puskas on April 18, 2009, 03:27:49 PM
Very murky. Supposed to have been a shoot-out yet there were no casualties/wounded apart from the three dead. Plus taking on commandoes in your underpants doesn't seem wise. Rozsa-Flores is quite well-known in Hungary, where he played himself in a decent film in 2001, Chico, about his life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBWbDXhNrHo. Bit of a character to say the least, he went on a journey from Bolivia to Chile to Hungary to Spain to Croatia, from Judaism to Islam, and from far-left to far-right. Set up the International Brigade in Croatia in 1991 and was considered by many a hero in Croatia. Implicated however in an alleged cover-up of the murder of 2 British journalists who were investigating the Brigade's neo-Nazi links.

That's one way of putting it...