El Gaviero

As others have noted, yesterday La Razón reported that former Cochabamba prefect Manfred Reyes Villa–who was tossed out in 2008’s nationwide recall referendum–selected accused genocidaire Leopoldo Fernández as his running mate for the Bolivian presidential election later this year. Fernández, of course, is known for his alleged involvement in the Porvenir massacre last Sept. 11, when campesinos marching to a rally in Filadelfia in Pando department were stopped and attacked by paramilitaries that Fernández is thought to have supported, resulting in nearly 20 deaths. Fernández is still in the San Pedro prison in La Paz, awaiting trial.
Says Manfred:

“I think it is important to analyze the lack of rule of law that is in the country, lack of respect for human rights, and the manner of how this government is acting; [Leopoldo Fernandez] represents a vision of the country and he also suffers from actions by the government. He seems an excellent candidate for vice president and so I invited him.

WTF?! I think the opposition’s gone even nuttier than before!
Anyhow, Evo’s lead in the polls is so far insurmountable (check out Otto’s chart below)–could this all be a ploy? Who knows? (El Dude thinks it’s all to gain attention, which it might well be.)

Update: Interesting take from Pronto: Fernández selection might be a gambit to strengthen the upper house, which is still two seats short of being controlled by Evo’s MAS party. Still sounds nuts to me, but maybe there’s a little reason for Fernández’s selection.