Corruption is Everywhere > How to make $2.3m out of nothing

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Former Bolivian minister sentenced to 70 months for laundering bribes

By Darryl Coote

U.S. NEWS 

JAN. 4, 2023 / 11:33 PM

   

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, 58, of Bolivia, was sentenced Wednesday to 70 months' imprisonment. Photo courtesy of Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional/Flikr

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal judge has sentenced a former Bolivian minister to nearly six years in prison after he admitted to a charge of attempting to launder bribes he received for securing government contracts for a U.S. company.

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, 58, of Bolivia, was sentenced Wednesday to 70 months' imprisonment, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The businessman and hotelier, who served as Bolivia's minister of government from 2019 to 2020, had pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors said Murillo had received at least $532,000 in bribes for securing contracts worth some $5.6 million for a Florida-based company to provide the Bolivian defense ministry with tear gas and other non-lethal equipment in 2019.

The charge Murillo pleaded guilty to stemmed from his use of the U.S. financial system to launder the bribery funds, of which he received $130,000 in cash payments at a family member's Miami home.

Murillo, his chief of staff Sergio Rodrigo Mendez Mendizabal, 51, and three Americans -- Luis Berkman, 58, Bryan Berkman, 36, and Philip Lichtenfeld, 48 -- were arrested in May of 2021 in the United States in connection to the scheme.

Astonishing!

Prosecutors said Bryan Berkman, the owner of the Florida company, with his father, Luis Berkman, sought to win the contract from the Bolivian government concerning non-lethal equipment in November 2019.

That month, the younger Berkman sent Mendez a WhatApp message requesting a letter stating that their competitor for the contract had been "banned" from selling the Brazilian tear gas to Bolivia.

In December, Berkman's company then entered into a $5.6 million contract with the Bolivian Ministry of Defense to supply the non-lethal equipment. It then purchased the equipment from a Brazilian company for some $3.35 million for a profit of nearly $2.3 million.

So, Bolivian taxpayers had to come up with an extra 40% for nothing. I wonder why UPI is hiding the names of the companies involved?

The Berkmans, Mendez and Lichtenfeld all pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were sentenced in June.

Mendez was sentenced to 42 months in prison while Luis Berkman received 38 months. Bryan Berkman was sentenced to 28 months and Lichtenfeld was sentenced to 26. 

These men should never be allowed to operate any type of business again. They are obviously devoid of a moral compass.

Bolivia Swings Back to the Left Even Without Morales

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Bolivia’s official presidential vote count confirms win by socialist Luis Arce,

ally of ousted leader Morales

23 Oct 2020 15:43

Luis Arce reacts next to vice presidential candidate David Choquehuanca, who wears a protective face mask,

in La Paz, Bolivia, October 19, 2020. © Reuters / Ueslei Marcelino

Socialist Luis Arce has won the presidential election in Bolivia with 55 percent of the vote, the official count confirmed after all ballots were counted on Friday.

Arce’s leading rival, Carlos Mesa, took just under 29 percent of the vote, meaning the socialist’s tally exceeded the required 20 percentage-point lead for an outright win.

The result also marks a return to the left for Bolivia. The present conservative caretaker government stepped in after Evo Morales, who governed for almost 14 years, was ousted last year.

On Monday, Arce’s Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party had already claimed victory in the election held the previous day, and Mesa conceded. Arce served as economy minister during the Morales era and is said to have been handpicked by the former leader, who resigned under pressure last year. However, the president-elect said on Tuesday he saw “no role” in his government for Morales, who still leads MAS from exile in Argentina.

“He will not have any role in our government,” Arce told Reuters. He said that the former leader can return to the country “because he’s Bolivian,” but added that the new president will decide who forms the administration.

The president-elect, who grew up in a middle class La Paz household, oversaw a nationalization program and commodities boom while minister. These policies helped provide funds to lift millions of indigenous Bolivians out of poverty in a period of sustained growth.

However, given the current recession, Arce warned that the government “will have to have austerity measures.”

Speaking on diplomatic ties with the US, which have been severed, Arce said: “If they want to re-establish a relationship with us, the only thing we ask for is that we are respected as equals.”

Prior to Morales' socialist government, right-wing governments sold Bolivia's natural resources to international companies at pathetic prices, impoverishing the people, especially the indigenous peoples. This will be good for Bolivia, if America doesn't punish them for expecting fair prices for their commodities. That's my humble opinion, for what it's worth.

The International Power and the Breathtaking Evil of America's Deep State

Bolivia: repression is intensifying nine months on from the lithium coup

KEN LIVINGSTONE looks at the motivations behind the illegal ‘regime change’ in Bolivia last year

A supporter of Bolivia's former president Evo Morales yells at a police officer, telling him to respect the nation's indigenous people in La Paz, Bolivia, 2019

IN NOVEMBER 2019 President Trump welcomed the coup in Bolivia that toppled its democratically elected president, Evo Morales, as “one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere.”

But, in fact, like the 1953 coup in Iran or the slew of other coups that the US has supported, funded or organised in the last seven decades, at stake was the control and exploitation of scarce natural resources — in this case Bolivia’s reserves of lithium.

Lithium is a crucial component of the batteries used in electric cars, as well as computers, smartphones, and other equipment. As sales of such vehicles and devices increase, lithium’s value is set to rise steeply as supplies strain to keep up with demand.

Bolivia’s lithium is located in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats, high in the Andes, and is estimated at between 25 per cent and 45 per cent of all known lithium reserves. Evo Morales and his Movement for Socialism (MAS) government had been working to create a publicly owned lithium industry, to continue to diversify Bolivia’s economy and raise more of its people out of poverty.

For a decade and a half Bolivia had been showing that a better world is possible for Latin Americans through a clear rejection of neoliberal policies.

Retaking control of key parts of the country’s economy from foreign corporations, the billions of dollars gained were invested to modernise the country’s infrastructure and dramatically raise the standard of living for Bolivia’s poor and neglected people.

“We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”

Elon Musk

But the military-backed coup in November brought an abrupt end to this approach.

The government described the coup as an “act of revenge by the United States, which never accepted the loss of control of the Bolivian lithium market in favour of Chinese and German companies.” The new coup regime had immediately announced plans to invite transnationals, including Elon Musk’s Tesla, to exploit Bolivia’s lithium reserves.

Musk’s response in July to a tweet accusing the Trump administration of ejecting Morales in a coup was breathtaking in its arrogance, even by his standards: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”

Morales was ousted despite being declared the winner of October’s election with a lead of 10 points over his nearest challenger, Carlos Mesa. Claims of irregularities by the Organisation of American States (OAS), which is 60 per cent US-funded, were used to justify his removal but these have been rejected by studies into the election. A report by the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research found: “There is not any statistical evidence of fraud that we can find… the OAS’s statistical analysis and conclusions would appear deeply flawed.”

Of course, America did not wait for the analysis before enabling the coup. They never do! Can't let truth interfere with their plans.

Having seized power, the regime under its appointed President, Jeanine Anez, began to unpick the economic and political reforms that had been made. State-owned companies are being privatised or handed over corruptly to coup supporters who are taking full advantage of the opportunity.

The directors of Bolivia’s airline, BoA, for example, have been replaced by close associates of Fernando Camacho, right wing opposition leader in the Santa Cruz region who facilitated the coup by urging the police as well as the military to join the protests against the elected government. Some of Anez’s trusted supporters have been reported as embezzling large sums from Bolivia’s largest oil and gas company (YPFB) and Bolivian Telecommunications (Entel).

“Savages” must not be allowed to win in the elections

President Anez

The coup regime also aimed to roll back the political advances secured for indigenous peoples in the new plurinational state. Anez, a Christian fundamentalist whose party’s electoral alliance secured only 4 per cent in October, revealed this clearly when she announced in January 2020 that “savages” must not be allowed to win in the elections then scheduled for May.

To shore up its position, the new coup regime wasted little time in turning on its critics and opponents to silence them through violent repression.

In a further indication of the racist nature of the coup, the crackdown has fallen most heavily on Bolivia’s indigenous peoples, including key figures in the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party who are being criminalised and face various charges.

The regime reportedly has a list of nearly 600 officials from the MAS government whom it has in its sights.

Repression has been stepped up this year in the face of protests against both the coup government’s woeful ineffectiveness in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and its equivocation about the holding of fresh elections. These have been postponed three times.

Since the beginning of August, the National Workers Federation and indigenous groups across most rural areas of the country have been taking part in a general strike and nationwide highway blockade in protest against the repeated postponements. The government accuses the protesters of terrorism and sedition.

The election date deferrals are seen by the left in the country as a ploy to enable the regime to consolidate its power.

We must stand in solidarity with those millions of Bolivians opposed to the coup regime, and in support of their struggle for public health, democracy and social progress.

Sign the Friends of Bolivia statement against the coup regime and its violent repression and austerity at bit.ly/boliviarepression.

Follow Ken Livingstone at www.twitter.com/Ken4London and www.facebook.com/KenLivingstoneOfficial.

Indigenous Bolivians would seem to have been at the mercy of the Spanish since the conquistadors in the 16th century. With help from the American CIA and businesses, South and Central American countries were raped of their natural resources with the profits going to America and, 'under the table' to whatever puppet regime they put in place. Indigenous workers were paid little more than slave wages with no help of ever rising above that station. 

Now, America has to close its borders, rather brutally, because those millions of poor in those countries raped by the USA are trying to get in. Trying to find the opportunities that America robbed them of for well over a hundred years.

I am not a socialist! I believe in a free-market system, but also in equal opportunity for health and education. I also believe that the many Tweets and FB posts about all the failed socialist systems, fail to mention that western countries do everything they can to destroy the economy of socialist states. 

There should be no pride in destroying the economy of another country for the sake of profits in America. It is racist and inhumane.

Far-Right Rising in Spain; Far Left Falling in Bolivia

'Catalan independence push & weakness of old parties propelled rightwing Vox to its best ever result in Spanish election'

FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Juan Carlos Rojas

The Spanish voters are so tired of the traditional parties being unable to solve the Catalan and migrant issues, that they gave their voices to Vox, despite its rightwing agenda and lack of any actual policy, the experts told RT.

Vox unexpectedly came third in the Spanish general election on Sunday, claiming 52 seats in the country’s 350-seat parliament and more than doubling their results from previous elections.

The reason for that is the “weakening” of the traditional parties, said Vladimir Shveitser of the Moscow-based Institute for Europe.

The ruling Socialists (PSOE) “remain deadlocked between the interests of the working class and the domestic capital. And they aren’t very successful in promoting their policies in such a tight space,” he said. Another major player, the People’s Party (PP), is still unable to recover from the corruption scandal, which led to the downfall of Mariano Rajoy's government last summer.

The Spanish voters are now in a dubious state when they understand that supporting the old parties is pointless, but see no new parties, capable of providing an alternative.

And that’s where Vox comes in – with its hash rhetoric on such pressing issues as Catalonia’s push for independence from Madrid and the rising migration to the country. Its leader, Santiago Abascal promised to build a “patriotic alternative,” although he didn’t give any details of how this would work. 

When PSOE and PP are talking about giving Spanish autonomies more rights to avoid their succession, “Vox expresses belief that any and all home rule should be annulled, especially the one in Catalonia, so that there would be one unitary Spanish state… without any separation into historic regions,” Shveitser said.

Alejandro Quiroga, Spanish history scholar from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, also said that “the situation in Catalonia has had a nuclear effect in terms of the rise of the far-right in Spain.”

Another reason for the success of Vox is “the refugees and migrants, especially, from North Africa that started to actively make their way into Spain in recent years,” upsetting the locals, Shveitser pointed out. “Historic Spanish nationalism keeps working even in the 21st century.” 

But Quiroga had a different view, arguing that “the level of sociability in Spain – with migrants and foreigners in general – is quite high so that’s not really a problem.” Vox did especially well in the richest parts of the country where there aren’t too many migrants altogether.

Quigora believes that now Vox would make “a political issue,” despite it not being a real social problem in Spain. 

However, both experts agreed that party led by Abascal has little to offer to the Spanish people besides empty declarations.

“They don’t have much of a policy. They have a rhetoric, which is basically xenophobic and anti-women and anti-equality, but in terms of policies, really not much there,” Quiroga explained.

The arrival of Vox will also “provoke turmoil and chaos during the formation of the Spanish government,” Shveitser warned, saying that they’ve snatch a lot seat, but no other party will be willing to engage in a coalition with them.

Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns

amid election protests

Bolivian President Evo Morales has resigned after nearly 14 years in power, amid turmoil following his disputed re-election last month.

The head of the army had called on him to go after protests over his election win.

Auditors found irregularities with the poll but Mr Morales said he had been the victim of a coup.

He said he was leaving to help protect families of political allies, after their homes were burned down.

In a televised address, Mr Morales urged protesters to "stop attacking the brothers and sisters, stop burning and attacking".

Power vacuum

The biggest criticism of Evo Morales was his lack of respect for Bolivia's democracy - accused of overstaying his welcome and refusing to step down.

But the fact that the military has called the shots on the president standing down does not do much for Bolivia's democracy either.

Now Evo Morales has gone, there is a power vacuum. Increasing numbers of his Mas party are resigning, and it feels like there is a need for retribution - for Evo Morales and his people to pay the price for the mistakes they made while in power.

His supporters have called this a coup - his detractors the end of tyranny. The priority now is to choose an interim leader, call new elections and bring a polarised Bolivia together or face yet more unrest and violence in the coming weeks.

Vice-President Alvaro García and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra also resigned.

Protesters took to the streets to celebrate, chanting "yes we could" and setting off fire crackers.

How did we get here?

Bolivia has been rattled by weeks of anti-government protests, following the reports of election fraud.

Tensions first flared on the night of the presidential election after the results count was inexplicably stopped for 24 hours. The final result gave Mr Morales slightly more than the 10-percentage-point lead he needed to win outright in the first round of the race.

At least three people died during clashes that followed. Some uniformed police officers also joined the protesters.

On Sunday, the Organization of American States, which monitored the elections, said it had found evidence of wide-scale data manipulation, and could not certify the result of the previous polls.

Pressure continued to build on Mr Morales during the day, as several of his political allies resigned, some citing fears for the safety of their families.

The army chief, Gen Williams Kaliman, urged Mr Morales to resign "to allow for pacification and the maintaining of stability".

The military also said it would conduct operations to "neutralise" any armed groups that attacked the protesters.

What reaction has there been?

Opposition leader Carlos Mesa - who came second in last month's poll - thanked protesters for "the heroism of peaceful resistance".

In a tweet, he described the development as "the end of tyranny" and a "historical lesson", saying, "Long live Bolivia!"

However, the Cuban and Venezuelan leaders - who had previously voiced their support for Mr Morales - condemned the events as a "coup".

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described it as a "violent and cowardly" attempt against democracy, while Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said tweeted: "We categorically condemn the coup realised against our brother president."

Mexico says it is considering granting asylum to Mr Morales.

Who is Evo Morales?

Bolivia's first indigenous president, he had served as leader since 2006.

He ran for a fourth consecutive term in the October elections after a controversial decision by the constitutional court to scrap presidential term limits.

In a 2016 referendum, a majority had voted "no" to dropping the limit of term numbers that Bolivians could serve.

However, Mr Morales' party took the issue to the constitutional court, which abolished the term limits altogether.

Ex-Bolivia President to Become First Former Head of State to Stand Trial in US

Corruption is Everywhere

 - and Death Squads often follow in South America

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada © Joyce Naltchayan / AFP

A federal judge has ruled that the former president of Bolivia must face a civil trial in the US. The case alleges the Bolivian military massacred at least 50 citizens in extrajudicial killings in 2003.

A judge in Florida ruled last week that former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and his former defense minister, Jose Carlos Sanchez Berzain, must stand trial in the US, where they both live.

De Lozada was first elected in 1993 and remained in power until 2003. His regime was staunchly pro-US and pro-privatization. This is the first time that a former head of state will stand accused in a civil human rights trial in a US court. 

In 2016, a US appeals court held that the trial could proceed under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), which allows lawsuits in US federal courts for extrajudicial killings. District Court Judge James Cohn ruled last week that there was sufficient evidence to move to trial.

In October 2003, de Lozada’s military forces killed 67 people  and injured 400 more, mostly those who were poor and from the nation's indigenous Aymara communities. The citizens were protesting the privatization of Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves.

Mamani v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín, filed by families of eight Bolivians killed, alleges that the politicians ordered the extrajudicial killings in advance. Most of the violence took place in El Alto, a city overlooking the capital La Paz.

The trial has important social and political implications for the country’s indigenous population. “The trial will offer indigenous Aymara people, who have historically been excluded from justice, a chance to testify about events that led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries,” Beth Stephens, an attorney for the Plaintiffs, told the Center for Constitutional Rights.

“The former president and his minister of defense must now listen as we testify about what happened,” said Teofilo Baltazar Cerro, a member of the indigenous Aymara community of Bolivia, which was heavily involved in the protests. “We look forward to this historic opportunity to have our day in court."

The trial will begin on March 5, in the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Sanchez de Lozada, nicknamed ‘Goni’, fled to the US in 2003. He is a multimillionaire mining executive who was educated in the US from a young age. He speaks Spanish with a noticeable American accent, which earned him the nickname ‘El Gringo’ in Bolivia.

Bolivia has been seeking de Lozada’s extradition from the US for over 10 years. In 2007, he was formally charged by Bolivian prosecutors with genocide over the 2003 incidents. The Obama administration refused to extradite him to Bolivia to stand trial in 2012, however.

The conflict in which the killings allegedly took place concerned the privatization of natural resources and the exploitation of Bolivia’s vast natural gas reserves. The protests become known as the ‘Gas Wars’ and ultimately led to the resignation of de Lozada.

In the US he became closely aligned with the administration of former President George W Bush. According to the Center for Public Integrity, he was listed in 2012 as the head of Petromina LLC, a mining advisory firm.

Much of Bolivia's oil and gas industry ended up in the hands of Amoco, Enron, and Shell. Brazil's Petrobas was involved in building pipelines to Brazil. How much money changed hands below the table is anybody's guess, but I suspect it was considerable.

Venezuela - Videographer Chronicles Countries Descent into Hell

Empty supermarkets, drug stores with no drugs, hospitals with no supplies and the man responsible has succeeded in consolidating his power. He has totally destroyed his country and believes he deserves to be its leader forever.

It's a good thing he is broke or he would be another Kim Jong Un.

video 12:34

Venezuela to Leave ‘Interventionist’ OAS Group Amid Deadly Anti-Govt Protests

© Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

Caracas has decided to withdraw its membership from the Organization of American States after the body voted to “breach sovereignty” and convene an emergency meeting over the ongoing violent crisis in Venezuela that has already resulted in 29 deaths.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Delcy Rodriguez, announced that the Latin American country will begin the process of exiting OAS after the organization convened a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss Venezuela.

The decision by the OAS' Permanent Council was passed by 19 votes to 10, with one abstention and one absence.

The foreign ministry and President Nicolas Maduro will forward a letter to the OAS on Thursday stating that "Venezuela will not participate in any activities that promote interventionism," Rodriguez said, adding that the exit process will take 24 months.

Addressing the nation that has been engulfed in violence, Rodriguez asserted that the OAS seeks to criminalize the Venezuelan government and destabilize its constitutional democracy in order to facilitate foreign intervention. The country's chief diplomat said that OAS does not have the consent of the affected country to intervene in domestic affairs.

Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s representative to the Organization of American States, said that the fate of the South American nation will never be decided by institutions such as the OAS or Washington.

Protests in the country have been ongoing in Venezuela since March 29, after the Supreme Court ruled to take over the duties of the National Assembly, a ruling many saw as undemocratic. Although the Supreme Court repealed the ruling three days later, this was not enough to assuage anti-government protesters.

The opposition has demanded the government hold fresh elections as soon as possible. President Maduro has agreed but a date has yet to be set.

At least 29 people have died in clashes so far this month, according to Reuters, as many of the rallies erupted in violence and vandalism.

Clashes erupted in Caracas again on Wednesday after National Guard troops and police blocked a highway in the area of the capital where thousands demonstrated. Venezuelan police fired tear gas at stone-throwing anti-government protesters as masked youths picked up tear gas canisters to hurl back at security forces.

While police stopped protesters advancing, government supporters staged a counter-rally near the presidential palace in central Caracas.

Maduro's opponents are demanding the release of imprisoned protesters, humanitarian aid to help with food and medicine shortages, as well as autonomy for the opposition-led legislature.

Maduro claims recent protests are nothing more than opposition efforts to stir up violence and topple his government. Bolivian President Evo Morales agrees with his counterpart that the anti-government protests in Venezuela are “a coup d’etat, driven by the right.”

There could be some truth in what he is saying, but it's more likely that it is just socialist paranoia. The Venezuelan economy is collapsing and Maduro's response is to entrench himself in power. He is incompetent and probably corrupt (who in South America isn't), and he is the last person Venezuela needs in power to fix the economy. The people are getting hungry and Morales blames outsiders for stirring up the people. 

“I feel sad that the Organization of American States [OAS] keeps on its tradition of coups, which is the primary means of the North American empire,” Morales said in an interview with RT.

Protests in Mexico City, Acapulco, & La Paz, Bolivia Over 43 Missing Students

Relatives of 43 missing Mexican students, who the authorities say were murdered by a drugs gang, have led mass protests in the capital.

Convoys carrying the families arrived in Mexico City on Thursday after touring the country to rally support.

Masked protesters clashed with police near the airport hours before the three
marches started. Some 200 hooded protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails
 at police officers burning a motorcycle.

Many remain unconvinced by the official explanation and still hope the students will be found alive.

Francisco Lagro, father of 19-year-old Magdaleno, one of those missing, was travelling on one of the caravans.

"It's been almost two months without knowing where they are. We don't know anything and we're desperate," he said.

"What are they doing? In what conditions? Do they get any water or food? Are they tied up? We have so many questions."

The government's handling of the case of the missing students
has provoked widespread anger in Mexico

Many thousands have converged on Mexico City's main square, or Zocalo.

A small protest turned violent near Mexico City's international airport, when some 200 hooded protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers who had been trying to disperse them. Police say no-one was injured.

Despite that incident, the protests were less violent and destructive than those just over a week ago.

Many shops and businesses were reportedly closed on Thursday because of the marches.

Bolivian students marched in solidarity with their Mexican counterparts in La Paz

Demonstrators have also called for a nationwide strike. Protests are also under way in other parts of Mexico and abroad.

The abduction has galvanised opposition to rampant political corruption and violence, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Mexico City.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has accused some of the protesters of trying to "destabilise" the state.

A student takes part in a protest by students of the Ayotzinapa school
and parents of the 43 missing students in Acapulco
The protests for the missing students reflect wider anger at political corruption

Analysts say the issue is the biggest challenge he has faced in his two years of office.

The students, all trainee teachers, went missing after attending a protest in Iguala, Guerrero State.

Forensic tests are being carried out on bodies found in mass graves in the state.

More than 100,000 people have been killed and 27,000 have disappeared in Mexico in the last decade.

Gus, Apostle to the Andes

This is a brief, but remarkable story of a friend of mine whom God used in a most amazing way. Gus does not call himself an apostle, it is a title of respect bestowed upon him by South Americans.

La Paz, Bolivia

Gus Schlamp, was born in Swift Current Saskatchewan in November of 1941, but was raised in the small logging town of Vanderhoof, in central British Columbia, Canada. He remained in Vanderhoof and worked in the forest industry for twenty five years, and another two years in Edson, Alberta. From that humble beginning, Gus could never have imagined that he would one day be responsible, in partnership with God, for delivering the Gospel to 7,000,000 people.

Life was good for Gus. He met and married a beautiful woman named Martha, and they soon began having children.

One Saturday Gus was in town where he bumped into an acquaintance who was a night watchman at a sawmill. They weren't that acquainted with each other, but they knew each other somewhat and had a casual chat.

Monday morning, while Gus was working in the bush, word came from town that the mill where this man was a watchman burned down. And the night watchman died of a heart attack. He was somewhere in his 50s, but he dropped dead.

Gus Schlamp and some schoolchildren

This really shook Gus up as he began to question the meaning of life and the meaning of death. His questions soon led him to the Bible where he found the answers and committed his life to Jesus Christ. Gus was 31 when received the assurance of salvation; he had been married about ten years.

Meanwhile, God had already brought Gus's neighbour into his wife's life. She was an on-fire Christian and soon led Mrs Schlamp to Jesus, and then to church. Gus had attended church as a youth but it was not an evangelical church and Gus found little real relevance in what he learned there. So with both Gus and his wife becoming new Christians, they decided to find a church, but not the one Gus attended as a child. They went to the church their on-fire neighbour attended and they got lit-up.

They started a Sunday evening sing along with the young people from his former church, which eventually developed into an Evangelical church. Gus's good life got even better than he could have imagined. It wasn’t long before he decided to go to Bible College. He graduated from Prairie Bible Institute in beautiful, downtown Three Hills, Alberta, in 1980. He then returned to his first occupation – logging. Soon, child number six was born.

Alas, life is never one filled with long periods of great joy and happiness. Times of testing come upon us bringing great difficulties into our lives, sometimes they come from the most unlikely source.

Gus's wife bought a really nice skirt, one day; it fit her beautiful figure very flatteringly. Gus loved it. It had a slit up one side that revealed a little leg. She looked fantastic in it. Unfortunately, her neighbour's husband thought so too and complained to his wife that he was being tempted by her appearance in that skirt with the slit.

The neighbour, the very one who led her to the Lord, rebuked Martha for tempting her husband. Where I come from, this is often called mis-placed anger - she probably should have rebuked her husband for not looking away. Or, perhaps she was jealous that her husband admired her neighbour so much. Or, perhaps she was jealous that she didn't look as good as the woman who had 6 kids.

Vanderhoof, British Columbia

A gentle word, I'm sure, and Martha might have made sure to not where the skirt around the neighbour's husband. Nevertheless, Martha disposed of the skirt, never wearing it again. That unfortunate incident began to erode her enthusiasm toward church.

One day, Gus and Martha found a bottle raspberry juice that had fermented, and they drank it. That was so much fun that they began buying wine and drinking it. Over time the drinking increased. As the drinking increased, the fun decreased, and Gus would often find his wife staying up late rather than praying together and going to bed with him. If he had only gone out to her and encouraged her to come to bed, things might have worked out very differently; but he didn't, and since they no longer prayed together the two grew farther and farther apart.

Okanagan Lake at Summerland

Gus’ marital relationship deteriorated over the years to the point of an official divorce in the year 2000, after which he retired. But divorce and retirement left Gus experiencing a very lonely and empty life. He moved to Summerland, in southern British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, but just continued to spiral downhill. He began to contemplate suicide. Then he began to plan his suicide.

There was a large sign on the side of the highway not far from where Gus lived. He decided that if he hit that sign on his motorcycle at about 100 mph, it would decapitate him instantly and he would hardly feel a thing.

Before Gus could exercise his plan, the Lord opened his eyes and heart through Job 2:9. Then he understood what Job’s wife meant when she said to Job: “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” What he understood her to say was, “Why don’t you do yourself in”? At that point Gus understood that if he was to take his life into his own hands he would be cursing God. Gus had enough fear of the Lord that he did not want to curse God. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." Prov 9:10.

(In the Bible, the word translated “fear” can mean several things. It can refer to the terror one feels in a frightening situation (Deuteronomy 2:25). It can mean “respect” in the way a servant fears his master and serves him faithfully (Joshua 24:14). Fear can also denote the reverence or awe a person feels in the presence of greatness (Isaiah 6:5). The fear of the Lord is a combination of all of these.)

Gus abandoned his suicide plan and decided to start over and build a new life. He didn’t feel that he had a right to start another relationship, so he looked at other options. He thought about moving away, but as his relationship with the Lord was improving, Gus struggled with his motives for wanting to leave, but then God pointed him to Isaiah 49:13 and on:

"Sing, O heavens!

Be joyful, O earth!

And break out in singing, O mountains!

For the Lord has comforted His people,

And will have mercy on His afflicted."

Isa 49:14  But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." 

Isa 49:15  "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 

Isa 49:16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 

Isa 49:17  Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. 

Isa 49:18  Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does. 

Isa 49:19  "Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land-- surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 

Isa 49:20  The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: 'The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.' 

Isa 49:21  Then you will say in your heart: 'Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?'" 

Isa 49:22  Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

This seemed to be loaded with purpose and promises to Gus.

With the Lord now directing his path, Gus didn’t move down the road, or to another part of B.C., He decided that he was going to start over in another country, Gus investigated Costa Rica but found no opportunities. So, he ended up moving to Bolivia where he bought ‘farm’ land consisting of 247 acres of heavy jungle, with a river bordering the north end, and a lake on the south end. He then bought a bulldozer and built seven kms of road to the property.

The first year he lived in a tent under a straw roof in the yard of the people from whom he bought the land. After the road was built and some clearing done, Gus built his house, shop and garage all under one large metal roof. He then started clearing the jungle and planting rice. He also had some pasture with cattle.

Mud is a problem on the mostly dirt
roads, especially in rainy season

During his time on the farm, Gus attended a Spanish church in a village called Santa Maria, 20 kms away. But to get there he had to reach the main highway, which meant crossing the river by ferry for the first 2 1⁄2 years before a nice bridge was built.

For about six years, Gus developed his farm quite successfully, but during this time he became rather concerned about the salvation of the many children throughout Bolivia. When he would see children the question that would always come to mind was this: “What opportunity will these children ever have to come to know God and His eternal salvation?”

The Lord developed that question to a very specific call and led Gus into His ministry to bring the Word of God to all the public schools throughout Bolivia.

During those six years, Gus found that he had some of the Lord’s funds on hand, tithe money that he hadn't yet disbursed, and he did not know where to designate it. Then it came to mind that he should purchase some children’s Bible story books and give one to each family in his church. He did.

After that, he felt like the Lord was saying, (that’s fine but there are more children). So he thought maybe he should do this to other churches as well. But then the question came to mind saying, “Gus, why do you only think of the children in church?”

That question hit fairly hard because Gus felt that the Lord wanted him to do this over all of Bolivia, and that was a much bigger project than he could even imagine. There were so many questions like; where would the material come from, where would the funds come from to purchase the material, how would it get distributed, what material should be distributed?

Gus went around this tree while road-making

While thinking on all this the Lord gave him the Bible verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you who also will do it”. By now you have probably figured out that Gus doesn’t do anything half-way; perhaps that’s why God chose him for this great challenge. So, Gus sold his farm and all that he had and bought a vehicle to transport the material. He also purchased two apartments for rental purposes to generate some income, and he rented a room together with a secure car garage in the city of Santa Cruz.

Then he ordered 500 children’s Bible Story Books from Ohio, USA for $700.  Gus distributed these to schoolchildren and teachers in a town north of Santa Cruz called Rurenabaque where he had done a survey to get an idea of the number of students in schools. Gus was very excited to have received such a holy calling, and determined to not give God a divided heart which meant sell everything and go into this full time.

After some time, a friend came from Paraguay with some Scripture material and asked Gus if he could store it in his garage for a while. Two weeks later, the friend asked if Gus had looked at the material yet which he had not, but as he looked at it he knew immediately this was exactly what he needed, and it just happened to be in his garage.

This was enough to give him a really good start. Montero was a smaller town North of Santa Cruz where he knew a pastor who was very excited about this mission. He would provide him with a bed for the night and also arrange for either himself or another pastor to go with him for the day as he distributed the booklets. During this process he met up with many pastors, and this is where he met with Rene Estevez Ordonez who worked on the project until 2011.

Following up on where the material came from, Gus found that David Klassen from Canada was instrumental in directing the material to Paraguay from World Missionary Press and was more than willing to arrange for them to receive this material as well.

Gus soon realized that his funds would run out and that funds would have to come in from outside sources. Therefore, he felt the need to make himself accountable somehow and, so, developed a board of directors consisting of some Canadians and some Bolivianos.

He also realized that support would likely come from Canada and, so, he also formed a board in Canada consisting of persons who have been in Bolivia and have seen the work first hand. Since then they have become a charitable organization known as Next Generation Ministries Inc. (NGM).

NGM is committed to the following ministries in Bolivia:

Bolivian Board

1. Presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every school, student and teacher.

2. Work together with evangelical pastors to bring this about.

3. Supply each student with the Word of God.

4. Supply each teacher with Bible study booklets.

5. Encourage these helping pastors to follow up on all these students and teachers.

The country's schools only go to grade six. This means that every six years they will all be new students. So it would be good to cover Bolivia every three to six years.

What do the materials consist of and how are they produced?

The material is in booklet form and it is mostly Scripture. Actually it is the Bible in condensed form with all the major doctrines of the Gospel. They are printed and shipped for free from WMP (World Missions Press).

   

This is the cover and second page of the booklet.

NGM’s access to Bibles has been very limited, but when they have Bibles or New Testaments they try to leave at least one with each school and, if possible, one with each teacher. Their next shipment is going to have 1,250,000 Scripture Booklets.

What has happened as a result of this mission in Bolivia?

Since this mission started in 2005 the gospel has been presented to more than 7,000,000 teachers and students, and may soon exceed 10,000,000. Every schoolchild in Bolivia and every teacher has received the booklet. Today NGM has workers in the cities of Cobija, Trinidad, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, La Paz and Sucre.

Recently the door has opened to Peru, but with the existing mission, they are not able to use funds that are given to NGM for the work in Peru.

NGM has contacted WMP who are prepared to ship a small container to Lima, Peru, if Gus can coordinate the work there to unload and distribute the material. As of this writing, WMP is contemplating the shipment of a container to Lima.

This container of Scripture booklets is to be placed into the hands of the Assemblies of God, which is a very large organization in Peru. Gus spoke to a leading pastor in Lima who told him that he has the oversight of 6,000 pastors in Peru. So, it appears that they have all their workers in place and will make good use of the material, with God’s blessing.

It is just amazing how God can use one humble but determined man to begin and run a work whereby the Gospel reaches 10,000,000 people – perhaps an entire generation of an entire country have the opportunity to receive the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Is it any wonder that they call him the Apostle to the Andes.

But Gus would want to make sure you know that this is not a story about him; it’s a story of what God can do, and he would give Him all the glory which is right. But I would like to point out that for God to glorify Himself He needs servants who listen, are willing, have faith, and are courageous. Gus is such a man. God bless him.

If you would like to be a part of this incredible ministry, please visit NGM’s website: http://nexgenerationbolivia.org

 You also have the opportunity to support NGM’s Supplier: www.wmpress.org