Post by wbb on Apr 22, 2009 7:43:48 GMT -5
Hungary skeptical over alleged Bolivia plot
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary's government said Tuesday there is no credible evidence so far that a group made up of Hungarians and other Europeans plotted to assassinate Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Three people were killed and two others taken into custody Thursday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in what officials in the South American country said was a shoot-out with a group plotting to kill Morales.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said "the pieces of the mosaic don't fit" based on what has been reported by the media about the alleged plot and what he called insufficient information received officially by Hungary from Bolivia.
There is no solid evidence that the Hungarians "were truly preparing an assassination plot against the president," said Balazs, who was sworn in Monday as a member of Hungary's new government.
"Presumably, this is an event tied to domestic politics in Bolivia and someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Balazs said.
Political opponents accuse Morales' leftist government of trying to distract voters from political issues in Bolivia before December elections.
Balazs said Hungary had asked for more information about the event from Bolivia — a request echoed Tuesday by Romania's Foreign Ministry and made earlier this week by Croatia and Ireland as well.
Balazs added, however, that calls for an independent international inquiry into the matter were premature.
Eduardo Rozsa-Flores, Arpad Magyarosi and Michael Dwyer were killed in the confrontation, while Elod Toaso and Mario Tadic Astorga have been jailed in La Paz, the Bolivian capital.
Rozsa-Flores was born in Bolivia but had lived mostly in Hungary for many years. His mother was Bolivian and his father Hungarian.
He went to the Balkans as a journalist, but joined the Croatian forces fighting Serb rebels in the 1991 war which led to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Known as "Chico," Rozsa-Flores was a minor celebrity in Croatia, which was thankful to have a foreigner fighting for its cause during the war. He was buried Friday in Santa Cruz, his birthplace.
Dwyer was from Ireland. The Irish Times reported that he had trained as a bodyguard and had worked in the security industry.
Balazs said Hungary was ready to assist along with the Red Cross in the repatriation of the remains of Magyarosi, an ethnic Hungarian from Romania who had studied in Hungary.
The foreign minister said that Hungarian diplomats were in La Paz to provide Toaso, a naturalized Hungarian citizen also born in Romania, with consular assistance.
Tadic Astorga is a Bolivian-Croatian who reportedly also fought in the Balkans.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_re_eu/eu_hungary_bolivia_plot_3
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary's government said Tuesday there is no credible evidence so far that a group made up of Hungarians and other Europeans plotted to assassinate Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Three people were killed and two others taken into custody Thursday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in what officials in the South American country said was a shoot-out with a group plotting to kill Morales.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said "the pieces of the mosaic don't fit" based on what has been reported by the media about the alleged plot and what he called insufficient information received officially by Hungary from Bolivia.
There is no solid evidence that the Hungarians "were truly preparing an assassination plot against the president," said Balazs, who was sworn in Monday as a member of Hungary's new government.
"Presumably, this is an event tied to domestic politics in Bolivia and someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Balazs said.
Political opponents accuse Morales' leftist government of trying to distract voters from political issues in Bolivia before December elections.
Balazs said Hungary had asked for more information about the event from Bolivia — a request echoed Tuesday by Romania's Foreign Ministry and made earlier this week by Croatia and Ireland as well.
Balazs added, however, that calls for an independent international inquiry into the matter were premature.
Eduardo Rozsa-Flores, Arpad Magyarosi and Michael Dwyer were killed in the confrontation, while Elod Toaso and Mario Tadic Astorga have been jailed in La Paz, the Bolivian capital.
Rozsa-Flores was born in Bolivia but had lived mostly in Hungary for many years. His mother was Bolivian and his father Hungarian.
He went to the Balkans as a journalist, but joined the Croatian forces fighting Serb rebels in the 1991 war which led to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Known as "Chico," Rozsa-Flores was a minor celebrity in Croatia, which was thankful to have a foreigner fighting for its cause during the war. He was buried Friday in Santa Cruz, his birthplace.
Dwyer was from Ireland. The Irish Times reported that he had trained as a bodyguard and had worked in the security industry.
Balazs said Hungary was ready to assist along with the Red Cross in the repatriation of the remains of Magyarosi, an ethnic Hungarian from Romania who had studied in Hungary.
The foreign minister said that Hungarian diplomats were in La Paz to provide Toaso, a naturalized Hungarian citizen also born in Romania, with consular assistance.
Tadic Astorga is a Bolivian-Croatian who reportedly also fought in the Balkans.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_re_eu/eu_hungary_bolivia_plot_3