Ambassador Golbderg defends position in diplomatic debacle

Ambassador Philip Goldberg, who was declared persona non grata last week in Bolivia -- an event which set off an hemispheric chain-reaction of diplomatic drama and culminated in the Unasur meeting earlier this week -- defended the US and his own actions at a media roundtable discussion at the Inter-American Dialogue on Thursday morning.

“This action, sadly, has been a longtime coming,” Goldberg noted. “To give you the context… the first question I received (from the Bolivian press corps) when I began my tenure in October of 2006 was ‘is it true that you are part of a plot to assassinate President Morales?’ This was no auspicious beginning.”

Goldberg, a Senior Foreign Service member, dismissed the allegations that the embassy had encouraged Peace Corps volunteers to spy on their communities as “outrageous,” and that he had acted inappropriately in meeting with opposition governors. “Meeting with opposition governors is not only not inappropriate, it’s part of our work.” He noted that European envoys met with the same opposition governors around the same time, which he also considers appropriate.

Noting that no US ambassador had been told to leave his / her post in the region since 1988, Goldberg reflected on the larger issues of the historical significance of last week’s actions, and of future diplomatic relations.

“I understand the suspicions,” he explained. “But I think if you ask most people in Bolivia, they would tell you that, historically, I was one of the least active (ambassadors) in Bolivian affairs.” Playing down the historical components, Goldberg added: “I live in the here and now--not another time period,” and added that “all I can say is that the US has nothing to do with any move to divide or destabilize Bolivia.”

Goldberg did not, however, seize the opportunity to clearly denounce the anti-democratic measures and violence incited by the Bolivian opposition groups, as the leaders of Unasur did earlier this week.

To listen to the audio of the event held this morning, click here.

Sources: Inter-American Dialogue, ABC, Bloomberg, The Guardian/UK