Today at the @OAS_official meeting on the final audit of the Bolivian election, we heard A LOT from ex-Pres. of Bolivia Jorge "Tuto Quiroga" Ramirez. He spoke a lot about democracy, human rights, indigenous peoples. But who is this guy? (THREAD) 
Educated in Texas and a former IBM official, Quiroga returned to Bolivia in the late 80s, entering political life. About 5 years later he was a top politico for the far-right party, Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN), which was founded by none other than Hugo Banzer Suárez.
For those that don't know Hugo Banzer, he was a far-right military dictator of Bolivia (and School of Americas graduate) who came to power in 1971 after toppling socialist Juan José Torres in a bloody coup supported by the Nixon Administration.
Banzer's tenure was marked by violent repression. He banned leftists parties & trade unions, instituted mass torture & assassination campaigns. He even employed the notorious former Gestapo official, Klaus "The Butcher of Lyon" Barbie, to train his repressive "security" forces.
Banzer was eventually forced to allow elections, which failed, resulting in a bloody succession of coups and counter coups. After decades of trying to regain power electorally, he was finally successful in winning elections in 1997 with his running mate -- Jorge "Tuto Quiroga."
The most infamous act of the Banzer-Quiorga admin was privatizing water services of Cochabamba w/o consultation. They gave a US-dominated consortium a 40 yr. lease and paved the way to privatize water across Bolivia. This led to the "Cochabamba Water Wars" of '99-'00.
As water fees kept growing, a broad coalition formed to protest the privatization. Intense government repression resumed followed massive demonstrations & strikes. However the movement was eventually successful in turning back the neoliberal water 'reforms.'
The next year, Banzer resigned due to cancer, leaving Quiroga to serve as president for the rest of the term.
In January 2002 he banned the sale of coca in the market of Sacaba, in Chapare, continuing the DEA-backed effort to eradicate coca-cultivation, which devastated thousands of poor indigenous communities. Protests ensued, ending violently but with Quiroga backing down.
One vocal supporter of the cocalero protests was a relatively young congressman, Evo Morales, who was leading the growing Movimiento al Socialismo party. Due to this support, and pressure from the US, Quiroga worked to have Evo expelled from congress under legally dubious grounds
In that year's elections, Evo's party went from relatively unknown to the second biggest in congress. When Quiroga decided to run for president in 2005, he was overwhelmingly defeated by Morales. (Seems like he's still bitter).
I've of course glossed over many details and other tales of Quiroga's dark past. Maybe I'll write something longer later.
The point is, Quiroga was lauded today as a pro-democracy hero in front of the OAS. This golpista, a protégé of a bloody dictator who helped facilitate one of the largest attempted water grabs against indigenous people in history, does NOT have a right to lecture us on freedom.
Just adding another fun fact here, in 1997 when Banzer and Quiroga won the presidency, they did so with ... wait for it ... 22.3% of the vote.
