Bolivian police seek three who worked with Dwyer

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Bolivian police seek three who worked with Dwyer

CONOR LALLY, DANIEL McLAUGHLIN and TOM HENNIGAN
POLICE IN Bolivia want to interview three men living in Ireland about their movements in Bolivia with Michael Dwyer, the Irishman shot by police in a Santa Cruz hotel because he was part of an alleged terrorist cell.

The three men being sought for interview by the Bolivian authorities are foreign nationals who worked with Mr Dwyer in Ireland.

The men – two Hungarians and a Slovak – travelled to Bolivia with Mr Dwyer last November. One of the men is still working in the same security company in Ireland where he and Mr Dwyer met. The other two men worked for the same firm until recently and are still living in Ireland.

Mr Dwyer was shot dead by police in Bolivia in April. The authorities there have alleged Mr Dwyer and men he met in Bolivia were plotting terrorist acts that included plans to kill the president Evo Morales. Mr Dwyer’s family and friends have dismissed the claims, saying the 25-year-old was not remotely interested in politics.

Mr Dwyer had told his parents in Ballinderry, Co Tipperary he was going to Bolivia to do a bodyguard course. When the course did not materialise the men Mr Dwyer had travelled to Bolivia with flew back to Ireland.

Mr Dwyer stayed on in Bolivia with Eduardo Rozsa Flores. He told his parents in Ireland he was working as a bodyguard for Mr Flores. On Thursday April 16th, an elite police unit stormed the men’s hotel in Santa Cruz. Mr Dwyer, Mr Flores and another man were shot dead. Two other members of the group were arrested.

In the weeks after the killings, police in Bolivia released photographs of Mr Dwyer and the others posing while handling firearms. The authorities in Bolivia are investigating the circumstances under which Mr Dwyer travelled from Ireland to Santa Cruz as part of a group.

One of the Hungarians in that group, who still lives in Ireland, appears to be the link between Mr Dwyer and Mr Flores. The Hungarian knew Mr Flores and introduced Mr Dwyer to him in Bolivia.

The Hungarian and Mr Flores have been linked to the Szekler Legion, which wants autonomy for Hungarians in Romania. The Hungarian returned to Ireland from Bolivia in January, leaving Mr Dwyer there with Mr Flores.

The Hungarian has been named by Bolivian investigators as the person who put together the group Mr Dwyer travelled with. The Bolivians have alleged this man, a former soldier, has a history of assembling “irregular groups”.

Another man who travelled to Bolivia with Mr Dwyer who has emerged as a person of interest is a Slovak who worked with Mr Dwyer in Ireland. The Irish Times has established he is living and working here.

The third man to emerge as a person of interest for the Bolivians is a Hungarian who worked briefly with Mr Dwyer in Ireland and was part of the group that travelled with Mr Dwyer to Bolivia. Since he left Bolivia in March, he has divided his time between Ireland and Hungary.

The two Hungarians and the Slovak left Bolivia between January and March after spending time with the Flores group, leaving Mr Dwyer behind.

In an interview recorded before he left Hungary for Bolivia last autumn, Mr Flores (49) said unnamed figures had asked him to come back to his birthplace, Santa Cruz, to help stem what he called a surge of violence from pro-government militias against critics of President Morales.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0602/1224247882240.html