BOLIVIA.— Bolivian President Evo Morales has stated that certain non-governmental organizations are acting as a fifth column for the United States by passing on information about Latin America labor and social leaders in exchange for project funding.

"I am convinced that certain NGO’s are spying for the United States, not just in Bolivia but throughout Latin America, because it is through these NGO’s that the latest information about social movements and their leaders is known," he emphasized.

The President recalled that the first march of indigenous peoples which arrived in La Paz demanding that the Isiboro-Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS) should be left intact, was promoted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), PL notes.

The project for a highway passing through TIPNIS unleashed a conflict among indigenous communities living in this natural reserve, some of whom support the construction project and others who are defending its preservation.

A march led by the Indigenous Federation of the Bolivian Eastern Region (CIDOB) arrived in La Paz last October. As the Bolivian leader commented on more than one occasion, it was infiltrated by a number of NGO’s and advised by the U.S. embassy, and finally obtained the passing of the so-called Ley Corta 180, which vetoed the projected highway.

For Morales, the mobilization was headed by leaders who deceived their supporters by privileging U.S. interests, ABI stated. (Taken from Juventud Rebelde)