Bolivia on Monday asked the US to extradite a former Bolivian president and two of his ministers to face charges of genocide and fraud, the Bolivian embassy in Washington said.
“We’ve formally presented a legal extradition request for [fomer president] Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and [former defense minister] Carlos Sanchez Barzain, and [former oil minister] Jorge Berindoague,” the embassy’s charge d’affaires Erika Duenas said.
Sanchez de Lozada resigned in October 2003 — 14 months after taking office — after massive, violent demonstrations against his plan to sell natural gas to foreign countries through Chile, with which Bolivia has a century-old border dispute.
He resigned after some 65 people died in clashes between demonstrators and security forces who were ordered to clear the roads for oil and gas tanker trucks.
Some of the demonstrations were led by current Bolivian President Evo Morales, who at the time was a powerful union leader.
Victims of the clashes have filed lawsuits against Sanchez de Lozada and his ministers in US courts and a federal judge in Miami is at present deciding whether the three men should face charges in the US.
The three former officials are also undergoing trial in Bolivia’s Supreme Court on charges of genocide, fraud and constitutional violations.
Sanchez de Lozada’s lawyer Howard Gutman dismissed Bolivia’s extradition request as “groundless,” saying it was part of President Morales’ campaign offensive against whom he considers “his political enemies.” Gutman said his client’s actions in 2003 against Bolivia’s social rebellion “were constitutional, legal and appropriate ... none of his actions constitute extraditable offenses.”
Sanchez de Lozada moved to the US after his resignation.
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