Conroy Update, More Weekend Reading in The Narcosphere

June 4, 2005
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Dear Colleague,

The new reports are streaming into the Narcosphere and we can barely
keep up. We have kept you informed with up-to-the-minute reports from
Luis Gómez and Jean Friedsky, live from the streets of La Paz. The
movements for gas nationalization and authentic democracy, for a new
vision of Bolivia free of the grinding poverty that has afflicted it
for centuries, are relatively quiet for the moment, having vowed to
renew their siege of the capital on Monday. In the meantime, take a
look at some of the stories you may have missed in the last few days:

- Our correspondent Bill Conroy looks at a U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security)
officer's recent appearance on NBC's Dateline program, for clues into
why that agency has been pressuring him to give up his source on a
story for Narco News. Joseph Webber, from ICE's Houston office,
complained of problems the agency is having in cooperating with the
FBI, an interdepartmental turf war on which Conroy has reported. Conroy
writes:

"Could it be that the real reason certain ICE officials -- and others,
possibly in the U.S. Attorney's Office -- want to know my sources is
because they are in fact under investigation themselves, or fear as
much, and want to know who their enemies might be? It sure would be
convenient for them to have such a list, if that is in fact what is
happening."

Conroy also reveals some interesting details of Agent Webber's past.
Read the full report:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/3/224224/5628

- Charlie Hardy, writing from Venezuela in response to our interview
with Eva Golinger earlier this week, describes some interesting
developments in that country. First, President Bush met personally with
Maria Corina Machado, head of the anti-Chávez political organization
Súmante and implicated in the 2002 coup. "Ms. Machado saw nothing out
of the ordinary in her meeting with President Bush," writes Hardy.
"After all she had also met with President Zapatero of Spain and
President Lagos of Chile. What she didn't mention is that those
presidents also met with President Chávez, something President Bush has
shown no interest in doing the past five years."

Hardy also mentions, among other things, the release of a letter from
Venezuelan human rights organization PROVEA to the U.S. ambassador,
citing concern with recent statements on Venezuela from U.S. officials.
The letter is significant because PROVEA is well known for its
political independence and strong criticism of the Chávez
administration. Read Hardy's full comment, here:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/5/31/111933/010#1

- Narco News Copublisher and School of Authentic Journalism Graduate
Gissel Gonzales presents an interview with Bolivian social leader Oscar
Olivera. Based in the city of Cochabamba, Olivera is a veteran social
fighter, having led the victorious struggle against water privatization
in that city in 2000's "water war." He has been one of the most
effective organizers and articulate defenders of the current struggle
for gas nationalization. Speaking of those who have been convinced by
government and right-wing propaganda not to take part in the recent
protests, he tells Narco News:

"...if we don't understand each other, and those people don't get
involved in the struggle for the collective good, which means fighting
for the recovery of the hydrocarbons that will give us a future for the
us and for our children, for the next 40 years, I think we are doomed.
Without us, they will continue to live as slaves."

Read the interview, with Spanish audio and a new English translation:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/2/15396/09806

- Finally, Stephen Peacock reports that just as Bolivia erupts in chaos
over conflicts in the ownership of hydrocarbon resources, the U.S.
government has begun investing in hydrocarbon exploration in
neighboring Peru. The new initiative will grant nearly $1.3 million
dollars to one or two private contractors to find new sites for private
oil and gas exploitation, and non-U.S. companies are excluded from
bidding for the contracts. As Peru's government tries to follow the
model as Bolivia's, will Peru's people also take a cue from their
neighbors in resistance? Read the full report:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/4/22135/63970

From somewhere in a country called América,

Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com
webmaster [at] narconews.com

Narco News is supported by:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
P.O. Box 241
Natick, MA 01760
http://www.authenticjournalism.org