Bolivian President Seeks Extradition of Predecessor, Appeals to Bush

The Bolo Press of Bolivia reports that President Evo Morales has made a personal appeal to President George W. Bush to expel his predecessor, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante. The former President instigated government reforms that led to unrest and the deaths of dozens of people, after which he fled with his family to the United States.

Translated By Paula van de Werken

February 13, 2005

Original Article (Spanish)    

Three years after the painful events of 2003, President Evo Morales asked the Constitutional Tribunal to set dates to overturn the Congressional Resolution which shelved the "Trial of Responsibility" brought against former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. He also demanded that the United States "expel" the former Chief of State so that he could face the charges made in legal proceedings against him.

[Editor's Note: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante, known as "Goni," is a former two-term president of Bolivia. He is credited for "shock therapy" (with Jeffrey Sachs) - extreme measures taken by Bolivia in 1985 to cut down on rampant hyperinflation caused by excessive government spending. Loathed by most of the population, his reforms brought protests that culminated in 2003. To bring an end to the chaos, Lozada resigned on October 17, 2003, leaving Bolivia the same day with his family for exile in the United States and has been charged in Bolivia with genocide]. [].

The Constitutional Tribunal must rule on an appeal, filed by the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS, Morales' political party),  against the decision of the previous Congress, which found no justification for a trial of Bustamante for the events of February 12 and 13,  2003, which were set off by the sudden imposition of a heavy salary tax.

President Morales, Vice President Alvaro Garcia, Minister of Defense Walker San Miguel, Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana, Interior Minister Alicia Munoz, accompanied by family members of the 34 tragic victims of those days of violence, attended a mass on Monday in their loving memory at the Metropolitan Cathedral of La Paz. The Military Bishop Gonzalo del Castillo, presided over the religious service and quoted the words of Pope Benedict XVI who said that, "One cannot have true peace without truth,"  alluding to the need to shed light on the events of those days, since the "Trial of Responsibility" has been denied.

During a press conference following the mass, the President  recalled that two days after those lamentable events, he filed a legal charges against the then incumbent President, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. This was rejected by the then Attorney General, Oscar Crespo. Lozada was forced to defend himself before the Constitutional Tribunal, which called on the National Congress to reopen the case. Nevertheless, the Congress decided to close the case because they thought that the respective authorities, such as the Republic’s Public Prosecutor, had no grounds for a trial proceeding.

The Head of State (Morales) said that this new attitude obliged him to return to the Constitutional Tribunal, and that up to now, the judicial system had not granted what he had asked of it at that time, which was, within the framework of  independence and respect,  to begin proceedings to facilitate a trial to clarify the facts, and identify and punish those responsible. In the name of the government and mainly on behalf of the families of the civilian, military and police victims, he  asked for the rejection of that Congressional resolution, which "rejects the judgment indicating  the moral responsibility of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada for the tragic events of February 2003."

"It must reopen this court of moral responsibility. It is not possible to ignore it, to hide it and not to hear the clamorous pleas of the families. I am convinced that the Government (of "Goni" Sanchez) wrongly used the Military and the National Police in confronting the Bolivian people," reflected the Head of State, who since taking his parliamentary position has pushed this legal process forward.

The beginning of the lawsuit filed against Sanchez de Lozada and his Minister of the Presidency, Carlos Sanchez, Minister of Defense, Freddy Teodovich, and Minister of Government, Alberto Gasser, is of singular importance to the nation's democratic institutions, along with exposing and punishing those responsible for the tragic events of October 2003, during which dozens of Bolivians died.

The precedent that will be established will impede future democratic governments, "from  wrongly using the Armed Forces and the National Police. The military are to defend the national territory, to protect internal security, and to participate in development. The Police are to serve the people," he said, "not to be against them."

Sacha Llorenti, the Bolivian Ambassador to the United States, will have as one of his first duties to notify former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, as well as his ex-ministers who are accompanying him in the country "up north," of the trial awaiting him [in Bolivia], and of his obligation to defend himself.

Sanchez de Lozada, together with some of his collaborators, left the country after the tragic events of October 2003 and assumed residence in the United States.

"I want to take advantage of this opportunity for the international community and the government of the United States to hear the loud demands of the people, of the families, of the victims of those massacres and of those riots, and to hear the demand that we make. It would be for the best if the United States government expel and revoke whatever asylum granted to those persons, who left so much to be desired in Bolivia, in Latin America, in the world, and who are leading us to confrontation," earnestly entreated the Head of State.

"We democratic governments do not have to cover up for or protect criminals." He continued, and stressed the call to his American colleague, George W. Bush,  to do "justice together. For the People."