Bolivia Web Blog

Here is the timeline of the scandal, loosely translated from a Bolivian blog, that is currently shaking the government of Evo Morales to its core:

• January 27, 2009 – Four or five armed bandits assault and kill Jorge O’Connor D’Arlach, a Bolivian oil industry executive. The robbers take 450,000 dollars. News accounts reveal that O’Connor is the founder of a company which had recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with YPFB, the Bolivian state oil company.
• January 29, 2009 – Investigators reveal that the robbery may be linked to illegal payments to Santos Ramirez, the president of YPFB.
• January 30, 2009 – News accounts reveal that the assault took place when O’Connor was en route to visit an apartment owned by relatives of the wife of Santos Ramirez. Investigators also start focusing on the legal status of Catler – Uniservice, the company founded or represented by O’Connor. Catler – Uniservice seems to be a shell entity hastily formed around the time YPFB awarded it an 86 million dollar contract.
• January 31, 2009 – Ramirez denies all involvement with the affair. Evo Morales declares that he trusts Ramirez and that Ramirez will continue at the helm of YPFB.
• February 1, 2009 – Evo Morales reverses course and fires Santos Ramirez. The government also puts YPFB under tighter control.
• February 2, 2009 – It becomes apparent that Santos Ramirez had been running YPFB with total disregard for official Bolivian procurement rules and regulations .
• February 3, 2009 – Relatives of the Cordova brothers reveal that Santos Ramirez had received multiple payments from Catler – Uniservice.
• February 4, 2009 – More details surface around the shaky legal status and finances of Catler – Uniservice.
• February 5, 2009 – Carlos Villegas, the new president of YPFB and former minister of energy, is asked to clarify his knowledge of the affair by the investigators.
• February 6, 2009 – Sources connected with several political leaders of Evo Morales’ political party – MAS – claim that the $450,000 stolen from O’Connor were part of a donation to Khantati, a non-profit foundation apparently started by MAS leaders.
• February 7, 2009 – News accounts reveal that the crime took place in or near the legal address of Khantati, the misterious foundation created by relatives of the wife of Santos Ramirez.
• February 8, 2009 – Bolivia’s anti-corruption czar reveals that contracts signed between YPFB and Catler – Uniservice were not approved by the board of YPFB, in violation of Bolivian law.
• February 9, 2009 – Santos Ramirez announces that he’s divorcing his wife. Note that Santos Ramirez married Geovanna Cristina Navia Doria Medina on January 6, 2009. La Razon reported at the time that Evo Morales was present at the wedding.
• February 11, 2009 – The government’s anti-corruption district attorney announces that Santos Ramirez was arrested and placed in custody.
• February 13, 2009 – Hugo Morales, brother of Evo Morales, admits extensive contacts with the Cordova brothers, who have been identified as the intellectual authors of the O’Connor robbery.

With the revelation that the intellectual authors of the O’Connor robbery and murder have extensive links to multiple leaders of the governing party, including the president’s brother, it looks increasingly likely that the scandal will make the Watergate episode look like child’s play. There is no proof that Evo Morales was involved directly, and it is unlikely that it will ever be proven, but it is very hard to believe that he did not know that his closest collaborators were involved in bribery schemes up to their eyeballs. Read the scandal timeline to find out what I’m talking about.