The Irish government on Wednesday urged Bolivia to explain why police shot dead an Irish man and questioned its accusation that he was involved in a suspected plot to kill Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Michael Dwyer was one of three people killed last week by Bolivian police who the leftist government said belonged to a gang of “famous mercenaries” planning to assassinate Morales.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Dwyer had no criminal record or army background in Ireland.
“The Irish Government has a legitimate right to seek the facts of how one of its citizens came to be killed by the security forces of another state,” Martin said in a statement.
Bolivian officials have named the group’s leader as Eduardo Rozsa, a Bolivian who also held Hungarian and Croatian passports.
Hungary has also expressed doubts over Bolivia’s claims that Rozsa was involved in an assassination plot.
“We did not get enough information from the Bolivian authorities. I have doubts and I don’t see evidence that these people, who were killed by a police squad or detained, these people really planned the assassination of the president,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told reporters on Tuesday.
A Romanian citizen was also killed in the incident.
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia said on Wednesday that Bolivia had videotapes of statements made by Rosza to Hungarian media before he died that proved he and his group had violent, illegal intentions and aimed to be part of a separatist movement in the South American country.
Ireland’s Martin said: “Prima facie evidence is sufficient to raise questions in relation to the description of events released by the Bolivian authorities.”
He also said Dwyer had been identified and “gruesome” footage of his dead body displayed in international media before contact had been made with Irish diplomats.
“I want to make it clear that Ireland had no involvement in, or has no sympathy for, any action designed to destabilize Bolivia or threaten the security of its democratically elected president,” Martin said.
Leaders of Bolivia’s rightist opposition have condemned the shootings, which took place in the eastern city of Santa Cruzp.
Morales, who accused rivals in Santa Cruz of organizing violent protests last year, has linked the suspected plot to right-wing opponents he says are seeking to destabilize his government. The opposition denied links to the alleged plot.
Dwyer’s parents said their son, who had told them he worked as a bodyguard in Bolivia, had no training or ability to carry out a plot.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous, there is no way Michael was ever involved in anything like that,” his mother Caroline Dwyer said.
Irish media said photographs had shown that Dwyer was dressed in his underwear in his hotel room at the time of his death.
Police arrested two others in the Santa Cruz raid, whom local media identified as a Bolivian-Croatian and a Hungarian. Authorities said police confiscated sniper rifles, high-caliber guns and other explosives from a nearby building.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS