The USG ranks Bolivia as a country “that does not share antiterrorism information”

Los Tiempos website reported on August 18, 2011 at 21:27 hours that: The United States Government (Department of State) ranks Bolivia as a country “that does not share antiterrorism information” The report also ranks Cuba as a country that endorses terrorism, like Siria, Sudan and Iran; this last one is “the most active endorser of terrorism.” The report criticized how Venezuela relates with Iran; the DoS was also “concerned” about the activities to get funding for the support of the Hezbolá (Lebanese movement) in Venezuela.

http://www.lostiempos.com/diario/actualidad/nacional/20110818/eeuu-situa-a-bolivia-como-un-pais-”que-no-comparte-informacion_138275_282943.html

So, I visited the DoS website an extracted fully the following information:

“Country Reports on Terrorism 2010 is an annual Congressionally mandated report that provides an assessment of trends and events in international terrorism that transpired from January 1 to December 31, 2010. Besides filling a Congressional requirement, this publication aims to enhance the public’s understanding of the international terrorist threat. The report focuses on policy-related assessments, country-by-country breakdowns of foreign government counterterrorism cooperation, and contains chapters on WMD terrorism, State Sponsors of Terrorism, Terrorist Safe Havens, and Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”

“The report also includes a statistical annex prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center. The statistics show more than 11,500 terrorist attacks occurred in 72 countries during 2010, resulting in more than 13,200 deaths. Although the number of attacks rose by almost 5 percent from the previous year, the number of deaths declined for a third consecutive year, dropping 12 percent from 2009. For the second consecutive year, the largest number of reported attacks occurred in South Asia and the Near East, with more than 75 percent of the world’s attacks and deaths occurring in these regions.”

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/08/170695.htm

Below, I extracted the whole portion of the report about Bolivia:

“BOLIVIA

“Overview: There did not appear to be any credible evidence that international terrorist organizations were present, nor of any plans or intentions within such groups to commit terrorist acts within Bolivia. There were reports that a handful of individuals associated with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were present. The Peruvian government has made accusations that Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement training camps were present in Bolivia. The Government of Bolivia cooperated with the United States only minimally on counterterrorism and did not share counterterrorism information with the U.S. government. In June, President Morales accused the United States of using counterterrorism as an excuse for involvement in other countries’ affairs and “to control presidents and governments and the countries’ natural resources.”

“Legislation and Law Enforcement: In March, the Minister of Government reaffirmed the Bolivian government’s commitment to a “war against terrorists” operating in Bolivia. The government included terrorist financing measures as part of the Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz Anti-Corruption law, which authorizes prison sentences of five to 10 years for such activities.”

“The Government of Bolivia enacted measures to improve border security by issuing machine-readable passports (though without a biometric chip) to Bolivian citizens.”

“Countering Terrorist Finance: The Bolivian financial system did not provide strong controls or safeguards for preventing its use by terrorists. Still, there is no evidence that terrorist organizations used Bolivian financial institutions. Bolivia is a member of the Financial Action Task Force Against Money Laundering in South America (GAFISUD), which recommended in 2010 that Bolivia improve its current money laundering legislation to conform with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force. Bolivia has yet to criminalize terrorist financing or allow for the blocking of terrorist assets. Its Financial Investigative Unit lacks the authority to receive, analyze, and communicate information related to terrorist financing.”

“Regional and International Cooperation: The Government of Bolivia cooperated well with Peru, Colombia, and surrounding countries on counterterrorism.”

http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2010/170259.htm

I believe Bolivia needs to work on its financial system, not only to prevent terrorism funded related activities but as well as narcotraffick and money laundering. All those activities impose serious threats to our fragile democracy and way of living. The more questionable funding becomes available in our system, the more corruption, blackmail and extortion we will have; which will undermine more our society.

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