Bolivian armed forces chief "rejects" Venezuelan military force

[Unattributed report: "Armed forces rejects Chavez threat, will not tolerate more clashes"]

The [Bolivian] Armed Forces (FFAA) today rejected the warning by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of an armed intervention in Bolivia if the opposition overthrows the government of Evo Morales.

They also announced that they will not allow more violent clashes in the country.

The commander in chief of the Armed Forces, General Luis Trigo, who merely read a press release, said that the military will defend and preserve the independence and the unity of the nation and that they will not allow any military or foreign force to set foot in Bolivian territory, transgressing Bolivia's national sovereignty.

"To the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and to the international community we say that the [Bolivian] Armed Forces emphatically reject external interference of any nature, no matter where that interference may come from," the general stated.

Trigo said that the fact that they [the military] did not react with violence and did not use weapons in the recent events in the regions of conflict (Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija) does not mean that the Armed Forces oppose the current constitutional order.

He added that the actions of the Armed Forces are prescribed in Article 208 of the CPE [State Political Constitution] and in compliance with the Constitution, the Armed Forces will act to protect the assets of the nation, the operations of the government apparatus and of public services, and also to protect Bolivia's strategic resources.

"As a consequence, we declare that we are not going to tolerate any more actions by radical and violent groups that are only bringing about clashes between Bolivians and causing sorrow and mourning between brothers and attacking our national security," he stated.

In this context he said that the mobilization of troops, materiel, and military equipment will be done strictly for the purpose of executing military operations intended to ensure domestic order and that they will not be used against the people.

"Only in extreme cases will they [the military] be used to ensure internal order and in such cases they will respond with persistence and patriotism to any threat by those groups of vandals and criminals who have come to subvert our internal order," said the general.

Source: La Razon website, La Paz, in Spanish 12 Sep 08

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Related terms: bolivia, community, constitution, military, president, venezuela, weapons