Gómez: Repression Against Oscar Olivera and LAB Workers in Bolivia;
Conroy: Cynthia McKinney and the Capitol Cop, and Problems with ICE's Informants, Undercover Ops
April 1, 2006
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Luis Gómez writes in the Narcosphere on the labor conflict that has stricken Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), the Bolivian
national airline, paralyzing major airports around the country. Gómez reports from La Paz:
"This Thursday at noon, the well-known social leader Oscar Olivera, in support of the workers of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano
(LAB) in their struggle against the owner of half of the company, participated in a blockade of the Jorge Wilsterman
Airport in his home city of Cochabamba.
"A large group made up of LAB workers, factory workers' leaders, activists (some of them graduates of the Narco News
School of Authentic Journalism), and others took up position on the main runway, blocking the landing or takeoff of any
airplane... The Evo Morales administration ordered their removal by force (with soldiers and police). Olivera was gassed
and mistreated, and has received word that he could be arrested in the coming hours..."
The government reaction against the workers is all the more disappointing because before the current administration took
power, both President Evo Morales and Vice President Alvaro García fought alongside Olivera in several social struggles.
Read the full story here:
Also in the Narcosphere, two new reports from journalist Bill Conroy. In the first, Conroy criticizes the mainstream
media's handling of the recent incident on Capitol Hill between Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (a longtime reader and
supporter of Narco News) and a Capitol policeman. Read that story here:
And Conroy reports on continuing problems, dishonesty and graft in U.S. Customs concerning informants and undercover
operations. "The case of the House of Death serves as a poster child for those problems," writes Conroy. "Now, several
internal ICE memos have surfaced that indicate the agency is continuing to have problems with how it deals with
informants and undercover operations in general."
Find that full story here, only in the Narcosphere:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin