Irish mercenary implicated in plot to kill Evo?

[puskas]

That's one way of putting it... 
[/quote]

Well actually, bar the cloudy circumstances surrounding the murder of those two journalists in 91, which he may or may not have been involved in, he seemed to have been quite a brave if reckless character. A renegade who openly blogged and used facebook and attached himself to what he saw rightly or wrongly as legimitate nationalist causes (Croatia, Hungary, Iraq, Bolivia). The young Irish guy as well as the Transylvanian guy Magyarosi seem to be more young impressionable adventurists - friends of Rozsa-Flores on Facebook - rather than hardened international terrorists. Morales's 'terrorist plot' version doesn't quite wash.

[longrunsthefox]

That's one way of putting it... 

Well actually, bar the cloudy circumstances surrounding the murder of those two journalists in 91, which he may or may not have been involved in, he seemed to have been quite a brave if reckless character. A renegade who openly blogged and used facebook and attached himself to what he saw rightly or wrongly as legimitate nationalist causes (Croatia, Hungary, Iraq, Bolivia). The young Irish guy as well as the Transylvanian guy Magyarosi seem to be more young impressionable adventurists - friends of Rozsa-Flores on Facebook - rather than hardened international terrorists. Morales's 'terrorist plot' version doesn't quite wash.
[/quote]

Whatever turns you on I suppose... seems crazy to me but if that was his mission in life... His recklesslness you mention indicates to me he was a loose cannon. God rest him anyway... it is a sad ending. 

[Donagh]

This episode gets murkier by the day. Turns out Michael Dwyer worked for a security firm run by ex-Irish Army Rangers called Integrated Risk Management Services. The same people provide security for Shell at the Corrib gas pipeline. Apparently this is Dwyer below on the right filming protesters.



It's also been alleged on various other forums that Dwyer was working in Bolivia providing security for various people involved in the petroleum industry.

For those that don't know much about Bolivia, it's often described as the poorest country in Latin America but depending on how you look at it that's open to debate. What is clear is that it is the certainly one of the most inequitable societies that you're ever likely to come across anywhere in the world. The country is divided is physically divided with the west of the country, including the capital La Paz, situated high in the Andes with the eastern lowlands mostly tropical. Population wise, about 60% of the population are indigenous Indians (for want of a better word) with the rest split between whites and Mestizo (mixed Indian and European). Most of Bolivia's population and indigenous population is concentrated in the Andean regions with the vast majority of them being subsistence farmers. Political and judicial power has traditionally rested with the whites and Mestizos in the wealthy south eastern region of Santa Cruz - a region rich and natural gas and other resources.

Since he was elected in in 2005 President Evo Morales has enacted a series of social and political reforms aimed and increasing representation for the indigenous population and crucially, addressing the inequalities through the redistribution of wealth by nationalising the country's natural resources as well as land reforms. This has naturally annoyed the large (mostly white) landowners in the east and and the large multi-national corporations such as Shell who saw 'their' gas fields nationalised by Morales. This has resulted in a push for autonomy from the landed classes in the wealthy Santa Cruz region.

Prominent among the governing elite in Santa Cruz are a number of white and Mestizo businessmen who are the descendants of Croatian Ustaše  and other European Fascists who fled Europe after their defeat in 1945. Morales expelled the US Ambassador Philip Goldberg last year, accusing him of colluding with these businessmen to foment unrest. Goldberg was also stationed in Bosnia in the 90's and has been accused of helping the Croatians plan 'Operation Storm' - the ethic cleansing of half a millions Serbs from Krajina region of Croatia. Many of the supporters of Santa Cruz independence seem to have inherited the Fascist tendencies of these central European émigrés. The photo below was taken in Santa Cruz.


So how did Michael Dwyer end up dead in a Bolivian hotel room? At this stage it's difficult to know. It seems he was associating with the elite of Santa Cruz politics as well as some colourful characters from central Europe with experience in the Yugoslav wars. Whether he is actually guilty of anything is probably too early to say.    

The following picture is one that Michael Dwyer placed on the Internet showing his new tattoo. Some people are alleging that it incorporates and 'SS' insignia. I'm not an expert on such things so wouldn't know, but thought it useful to post to see if anyone else thinks it's somehow a Nazi tat (the good people on Stormfront claim it is)

[Galwaybhoy]

This is all very strange indeed, I find it hard to believe he wasn't involved in something, especially after reading about his interests.  But there is something very wrong when police have to cut off cameras in a hotel before they go into a room and shoot what seems like unarmed men.  The pictures show anything but a 30 minute shootout.

[Donagh]

Mysterious International Mercenary Cell Uncovered in Bolivia
April 21, 2009
by Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis

Correction: This article states that Mario Francisco Tasik Astorga and Elod Toaso fought in the Croation war. According to news reports, the two members of the cell that fought in that war were Astorga and the named ringleader, Eduardo Rosa Flores, not Elod Toaso.

Last month, the Bolivian government expelled [1] a senior "diplomat" from the US embassy in La Paz, whom it accused of covertly supporting efforts [2] to depose the country's leftist president, Evo Morales. This past week, Bolivian authorities announced they had foiled operations by a major international anti-government mercenary group operating out of the city of Santa Cruz, a hotbed of anti-government activity in the country's wealthy eastern provinces. Three of the unit's members, a Bolivian of Croatian descent, an Irishman and a Romanian, were killed by Bolivian security forces; two others, a Hungarian and another Bolivian of Croatian descent, were captured and are now in custody.

The Discovery

Last Thursday, Bolivian security officials investigating the recent bombing [3] attack on the house of Catholic cardinal Julio Terrazas, were led to Santa Cruz's luxury Hotel Las Americas, where the five alleged mercenaries were reportedly staying. Elite Bolivian security forces conducted a pre-dawn raid at the hotel and killed [4] three of the five suspects in the ensuing 30′ shootout. Bolivian security agents, who searched the hotel room following the raid, said [5] they found "a cache of weapons and ammunition, including several cylinders of C-4″ high-power explosive. Their findings also led them to a separate storage unit in the city's fairgrounds, where they uncovered several pounds of explosives and numerous assault rifles. The chief of Bolivia's police, General Victor Hugo Escobar, said late on Thursday that all of the uncovered weapons and explosives appeared to originate from outside the country.

Assassination Plans

General Escobar also claimed that the group had in its possession several reporters' vests and "PRESS" identity cards, of the kind typically displayed by accredited journalists. Security officials are examining the possibility that the group may have been planning to use journalistic disguise to gain proximity to senior government officials for purposes of assassination. Furthermore, the country's vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, claimed [6] last week that a laptop recovered at the suspects' hotel room shows they were planning to assassinate president Morales and other cabinet members. One cabinet member, minister of interior Marcos Farfán, alleged [7] that Bolivian security forces had already managed to foil an attempt by the covert group to attack a vessel on Lake Titicaca, located on the Peruvian border, where the Bolivian government cabinet was meeting.

The Plot Thickens

All five known members of the mysterious group have intriguing international backgrounds. The two arrestees, who are currently being interrogated at the Bolivian attorney general's offices in La Paz, are Mario Tadik (or Tadić) Astorga, a right-wing Bolivian army veteran of Croatian descent, and Előd (or Elődöt) Tóásó, a known Hungarian nationalist and computer expert. Interestingly, both Tadić and Tóásó fought as mercenaries for the Croatian forces in the in the Croatian War of Independence from Yugoslavia, in 1991-1995.

The three killed include Irishman Michael Martin Dwyer, and Árpád (or Arpak, or Ariad) Magyarosi, reportedly an expert sniper who was a nationalist member of Romania's Hungarian minority. Comparatively little is known about Dwyer, 24, who was a student at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. British media report [8] that Dwyer's personal Facebook page contains several photographs of "himself in military gear and holding fake weapons".

The Third Man

The third person killed has been named as Eduardo Rózsa Flores, also known as Jorge Hurtado Flores, 48, a Bolivian-Croatian national, who was reportedly the leader of the Bolivian operation. Flores' journey is an interesting one, to say the least. He was born to a Hungarian father and Spanish mother, who in 1972 left Bolivia for Chile, in support of Chilean president Salvador Allende's socialist experiment. The Flores family later moved to Europe, where Eduardo's political views shifted gradually to the right. In 1992, he moved to Croatia, where he fought as a mercenary for the anti-Yugoslav nationalist forces and eventually led the Croatian forces' First International Platoon (Prvi Internacionalni Vod, known as PIV), an amalgamation of foreign nationalist mercenaries from several nations operating under Croatian command. At the end of the Yugoslav Wars, Flores was awarded Croatian citizenship and moved to Hungary, where he became increasingly vocal in far-right circles. According [9] to one of his Hungarian contacts, Flores relocated to Bolivia in May 2008 "to fight against its communist government".

Links to Opposition Financiers

Several Bolivian officials have said [10] that Eduardo Rózsa Flores was invited to join the militant anti-Morales opposition by Branko Gora Marinković Jovicević [11], 42, one of Bolivia's richest individuals and a well-known financier of the anti-government opposition. Marinković, who holds dual Bolivian-Croatian citizenship, was born to a Croat father and a Montenegrin mother, who immigrated to Bolivia from Yugoslavia in the 1950s, allegedly under fear of retribution after having collaborated with Nazi-affiliated Croat forces during World War II. A resident of prosperous Santa Cruz, Marinković was until recently a leader in the separatist campaign by Bolivia's energy-rich white-controlled provinces. In late 2008, however, he stepped out of the political limelight, reportedly to shield the movement from revelations about his family's "Nazi past".

Behind the Operation

It has already been confirmed by several sources in Bolivia, Croatia, Hungary and elsewhere, that at least three of the five members of the covert cell fought (possibly together) in the Croatian War of Independence during the 1990s. What is more, Bolivian investigators have traced the mercenaries' travel routes from Croatia and Ireland to Bolivia.

The fact that the five were staying in one of the country's most luxurious hotels is undoubtedly seen by investigators as evidence of substantial funding in support of the operation. The Croatian link connecting most of the five mercenaries, including alleged leader Eduardo Flores, is also important. Traditionally, the militant far right in Bolivia, Venezuela and Guatemala has relied on mercenaries from nearby Colombia, Nicaragua, Argentina or the United States. Inviting European mercenaries is certainly not unheard of, but it is notably rare, and points to possible connections with Branko Marinković. Additionally, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the five to operate out of Santa Cruz without the tacit consent of Marinković and his clique, who virtually own the city.

US Involvement Suspected

The question, of course, is whether Langley was aware of the covert operation. US media outlets have remained strangely silent on the entire affair. But European media, where the news from Bolivia has been making headlines, report [12] that an enraged Evo Morales asked US President Barack Obama "to repudiate the plot" during a closed-door session, noting that "f the US president did not repudiate the alleged conspiracy I might think it was organized through the [US] embassy". President Obama reportedly [13] told his Bolivian counterpart that "he was unfamiliar with the incident" and denied that "his administration was [...] involved".

Meanwhile, the investigation in La Paz continues. Sources tell me that Interpol has confirmed the mercenaries' travel routes and Croatian connection, and it is actively assisting Bolivian investigators. It is admittedly rare  that two members of an alleged international assassination squad are captured alive, or that laptops and documents containing information on planned operations are seized by government authorities. It could well be the case that Bolivian officials are already in possession of information that may soon embarrass several intelligence services in the Americas and beyond.

__________

[1] I. Allen (2009) "Bolivia expels second US diplomat for having CIA links", intelNews, 11 March.

http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/01-97/

[2] I. Allen (2008) "US covert operations in Bolivia detailed", intelNews, 18 November.

http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/01-2/

[3] Anon. (2009) "Bomb damages Bolivian cardinal's home", United Press International, 15 April.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/15/Bomb-damages-Bolivian-cardinals-home/UPI-68291239808176/

[4] S. Alvarez (2009) "Bolivia Deepens Probe Into Assassination Plot", Latin American Herald Tribune, 20 April.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332195&CategoryId=14919

[5] N. Mapstone (2009) "Bolivian leader says death plot thwarted", The Financial Times, 16 April.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/58d31a62-2acf-11de-8415-00144feabdc0.html

[6] S. Alvarez (2009) "Bolivia Deepens Probe Into Assassination Plot", Latin American Herald Tribune, 20 April.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332195&CategoryId=14919

[7] N. Mapstone (2009) "Bolivian leader says death plot thwarted", The Financial Times, 16 April.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/58d31a62-2acf-11de-8415-00144feabdc0.html

[8] R. Carroll (2009) "Bolivian president Morales links US embassy to alleged assassination attempt", 20 April.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/20/evo-morales-bolivia-us-embassy

[9] P. Sherwell (2009) "My meeting with the man accused of plotting the assassination of Evo Morales", The Daily Telegraph, 20 April.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/5185198/My-meeting-with-the-man-accused-of-plotting-the-assassination-of-Evo-Morales.html

[10] P. Sherwell (2009) "My meeting with the man accused of plotting the assassination of Evo Morales", The Daily Telegraph, 20 April.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/5185198/My-meeting-with-the-man-accused-of-plotting-the-assassination-of-Evo-Morales.html

[11] S. Romero (2008) "In Bolivia, a Croat and a Critic Is Cast in a Harsh Light", The New York Times, 26 September.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/americas/27bolivia.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/M/Morales,%20Evo&pagewanted=all

[12] R. Carroll (2009) "Bolivian president Morales links US embassy to alleged assassination attempt", The Guardian, 20 April.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/20/evo-morales-bolivia-us-embassy

[13] R. Carroll (2009) "Bolivian president Morales links US embassy to alleged assassination attempt", The Guardian, 20 April.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/20/evo-morales-bolivia-us-embassy


Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis has been writing and teaching on the politics of intelligence for over ten years. His areas of expertise include the institutional analysis of the intelligence community; the interception of communications; and the history of intelligence with particular reference to international espionage during the Cold War. He is Senior Editor of intelNews.org.

[Bogball XV]

Last Thursday, Bolivian security officials investigating the recent bombing [3] attack on the house of Catholic cardinal Julio Terrazas, were led to Santa Cruz's luxury Hotel Las Americas, where the five alleged mercenaries were reportedly staying. Elite Bolivian security forces conducted a pre-dawn raid at the hotel and killed [4] three of the five suspects in the ensuing 30′ shootout. Bolivian security agents, who searched the hotel room following the raid, said [5] they found "a cache of weapons and ammunition, including several cylinders of C-4″ high-power explosive. 

If they were really mercenaries they haven't read too many frederik forsythe books anyway, not exactly dogs of war roughing it in the jungle were they?
Strange story, at any rate it would seem that there was no need to kill them.

[Donagh]

If they were really mercenaries they haven't read too many frederik forsythe books anyway, not exactly dogs of war roughing it in the jungle were they?
Strange story, at any rate it would seem that there was no need to kill them.

No, quite the opposite. He was driving a new BMW and staying in a hotel which costs more per night that most Bolivians earn in a year - they must have had some very wealthy people sponsoring them.

[puskas]

Rozsa-Flores almost certainly was on no bird-watching mission and was up to some serious mischief there, he apparently told his former editor he was going to Bolivia to fight against the Communists. At whose behest, it's not yet clear. The Santa Cruz elite probably. He was the ultimate loose cannon, a pro-Palestinian ex-Jewish Muslim, former Communist turned radical-nationalist for various causes. Obviously he had some money behind him so it'll be an interesting story to follow. You got to feel for the Dwyers, it doesn't seem he had much of a notion what he was getting into. At this stage the evidence, photos and eye-witness accounts by the hotel staff e.g. they were ordered by the commandoes to turn off the CCTV, suggest that the three men were gunned down in cold blood and that no 30-minute gun battle took place as the government claimed. All the allegedly incriminating evidence was supposedly located at 'another location'. Very dodgy. Looks at the moment that they knew he was coming and decided to stage a show to score some points for Morales. Let's see what evidence they produce. While I would have sympathy for the formerly-oppressed indigenous majority in Bolivia now being in control the reality in Bolivia now includes discrimination and racism against the non-indigenous minority and widespread corruption and nepotism among the ruling elite. Oppressed becoming the oppressors? Morales may be botching the revolution just like he may have botched this whole 'assassination plot' operation. A secret interview with Rozsa-Flores billed as his 'last will' explaining why he went to Bolivia, and which he ordered only to be shown if he didn't return goes out tonight on Hungarian TV. Should be interesting..

[orangeman]

Regardless of what he was / wasn't doing, he's somebody's son. Condolences to the family.

[ludermor]

. He was the ultimate loose cannon, a pro-Palestinian ex-Jewish Muslim, former Communist turned radical-nationalist for various causes.

Now that sounds like one interesting life!

[Donagh]

Rozsa-Flores almost certainly was on no bird-watching mission and was up to some serious mischief there, he apparently told his former editor he was going to Bolivia to fight against the Communists. At whose behest, it's not yet clear. The Santa Cruz elite probably. He was the ultimate loose cannon, a pro-Palestinian ex-Jewish Muslim, former Communist turned radical-nationalist for various causes. Obviously he had some money behind him so it'll be an interesting story to follow. You got to feel for the Dwyers, it doesn't seem he had much of a notion what he was getting into. At this stage the evidence, photos and eye-witness accounts by the hotel staff e.g. they were ordered by the commandoes to turn off the CCTV, suggest that the three men were gunned down in cold blood and that no 30-minute gun battle took place as the government claimed. All the allegedly incriminating evidence was supposedly located at 'another location'. Very dodgy. Looks at the moment that they knew he was coming and decided to stage a show to score some points for Morales. Let's see what evidence they produce. While I would have sympathy for the formerly-oppressed indigenous majority in Bolivia now being in control the reality in Bolivia now includes discrimination and racism against the non-indigenous minority and widespread corruption and nepotism among the ruling elite. Oppressed becoming the oppressors? Morales may be botching the revolution just like he may have botched this whole 'assassination plot' operation. A secret interview with Rozsa-Flores billed as his 'last will' explaining why he went to Bolivia, and which he ordered only to be shown if he didn't return goes out tonight on Hungarian TV. Should be interesting..

I don't think that's the reality in Bolivia at all Puskas. The cries of discrimination are coming only from the wealthy businessmen and landowners who can no longer call the shots and run the country simply for their own benefit. Fcuk them, the've milked that country dry for long enough. Given that Morales has only been in power for a few years and his support rests with various social movements, the only 'ruling elite' worth talking about in Bolivia are those businessmen and landowners who are gradually losing their power and influence through the Morales reforms.

[puskas]

I'd have to disagree with you there Donagh. The 'fcuk-em' politics of revenge, retribution, resentment, and class and ethnicity doesn't work in the long-run. I know quite well a Bolivian of European descent (four generations) who now lives in my city. He is by no means a rich landowner or member of the ruling elite but who was born and raised in a non-descript middle-class family in Santa Cruz. He voted for Morales and for the redistribution of wealth and power and a new Bolivia but decided after 3 years to leave as he thought the country was being driven towards economic ruin and an ethno-nationalist civil war. While I cheered when Morales was elected to give a chance to redress historic injustices in that benighted country where the Indian majority were systematically humiliated, I hoped he would he would more pragmatic Luka than cartoon Chavez. Bolivia is one of the most fcuked-up places due to its sad history but its maybe impossible challenge is to somehow unite its polarised people not divide. They need a Mandela-type rather than a Mugabe-type. Morales is nothing like Mugabe, his new constitution had many good things – healthcare, education for all, and increased rights for the indigenous people - plus you can't solve a problem like Bolivia overnight, of course there will be mistakes, but encouraging the alienation of your own citizens as 'foreigners' and 'colonialists' hasn't worked in Zimbabwe, ex-Yugo, or anywhere you care to mention. Plus butchering unarmed men in their beds for political gain, one of them a young naive Irishman, does not fill me with confidence that Morales's band are the right ones to guide Bolivia out of their dark past.

By the way, the 'last interview' programme went out tonight. Rozsa-Flores, said that he was going back to his hometown to defend his people against attack from the central government. In his words, they demand autonomy but are increasingly afraid of increasingly violent attacks against them. They are prepared to militarily fight for independence if more autonomy is not granted through political means. He was not going as a mercenary, which he claims he never was, but as a defender of his people. He said he was invited by the people there but he didn't go into specifics.

[Donagh]

It's not the politics of revenge Puskas but the politics of pragmatism. For the first time in over a century, Bolivia has a President who doesn't take orders from the military. A President who is very aware of all the reactionary forces that stand against him, those who'd happily see him end up as another Túpac Amaru or more recently Salvador Allende. Despite this, Morales and the MAS movement are managing to push through democratic and social reforms while fending off the indigenous nationalists of Felipe Quispe on one side and the white conservatives of Santa Cruz and their powerful allies on the other. You only have to look at his recent hunger strike to see how much opposition he still faces within the establishment despite having the overwhelming support of most Bolivians.

Time is short for Morales and the kind of changes he is making is going to cause major pain for those in previously privileged positions but to lump him in with the indigenous nationalists is very disingenuous. It's unfortunate that your friend left Bolivia so soon after Morales election but I was over recently and the feeling I got from most people I met was that they are very optimistic for the future and are very pleased with how things are going – and incidentally they are also very protective of their President. Far from being a divisive influence in Bolivian society, people there recognise what he is trying to do and recognise he is walking a tightrope. Perhaps if Mandela had been more radical or ambitious he would have been able to secure real change in South Africa instead of the situation we have at the moment where one governing elite was exchanged for another, or then again, maybe if he'd tried he would have ended up with a bullet in the back of the head.

Interesting about the programme last night in Hungary. Whether Rozsa-Flores sees himself as a mercenary or not, I think it's clear from those comments that he was going to Bolivia to take up arms against their democratically government. I doubt young Michael Dwyer has been fully aware of the high stakes they were all playing for and must have been very naive if he didn't think they'd be opposed by the Bolivian government by all means at their disposal.

[puskas]

Intersting first-hand stuff Donagh. Like you, I would like Morales's project to succeed but you're right about the tightrope. He has to somehow defuse the autonomy question and make a compromise with the breakaway regions, Santa Cruz isn't the only one. This week certainly doesn't help. The state prosecutor has said today after checking 10% of the evidence so far that no incriminating evidence of any plot has emerged yet. Let's wait and see. As we know too well, state-sponsored shoot-to-kill operations only undermine the state's authority. Rozsa-Flores said in the interview he had no intention of making any offensive action, he had no business in La Paz or with the central government but was going to make sure his own people could defend themselves. 

[puskas]

By the way, that Bolivian bloke who lives here only arrived recently, he gave Morales three years, not a short time, and reckoned turbulent times lie ahead.