Exiled Former Bolivian President, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada Is Served Legal Documents at Washington

international | crime and justice | news report

Monday November 21, 2005 16:53

by Aisling Walsh - Bolivia Solidarity Network

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada is symbolically served with the legal documents the US Government has failed to serve him with for 4 months, demanding his return to Bolivia.

Last Tuesday 1st of November, Todo Los Santos (All Saints Day), at a public conference in Washington DC held by Princeton University, former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, was symbolically served a subpoena requesting his return to Bolivia to give his statement to the State Prosecutor regarding the charges of the murders of 67 people that he has been avoiding for two years.

Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez de Lozada, was the neo-liberal, US backed, President of Bolivia in the years 1991 to 1997 and more recently in 2002 to October 2003, when mass protests, which almost shut the country down, and the deaths of 67 civilians in “Black October” forced his resignation.

Goni´s last presidency was a traumatic time in recent Bolivian history. In February of 2003, Goni announced a rise in the standard rate of income tax. In a country of 8.4 million people, where the average income is 50 bolivianos a day (about €5), 63% of the population live in poverty and 14% manage to survive on less then one dollar a day, this caused outrage which sparked of a series of protests culminating in violent clashes between protesters and police in La Paz on the 12th and 13th of February. The situation was diffused by members of the Permanent Human Rights assembly but not before 33 people, both police and protestors, had lost their lives,

Goni backed down, abandoning his plans to implement the new tax reforms. This did nothing to reduce the tension and protests continued throughout the year. Anger was further fuelled by the lack of clarity concerning investigations into the deaths of February, the failure of the government to deal with the economic crises and calls for president Goni to stand down. In late September when plans for the exportation of Bolivian gas through Chile were announced anger once again spilled over into protests in La Paz and surrounding regions. Trade unionists, minors, peasants and members of the indigenous population demonstrated, all called for the resignation of the president and against the selling of gas. The police and army once again used excessive force against the demonstrators resulting in the deaths of 67 men, women and most tragically, in the rural town of Warisata, Marlene Nancy Ramos, an 8 year-old girl.

On October 17, 2003 Goni buckled under the pressure and resigned, handing over his office to Vice President Carlos Mesa Gisbert. Goni, along with two of his fellow ministers, Carlos Sanchez Berzain and Jorge Berindoague, fled the country to the United States where he now resides in a state of luxurious exile in Washington DC.

Almost immediately following the events of “Black February”, the Bolivian people began a campaign to bring justice to Goni and 15 of his misisters. The leaders of this campaign Sacha Lorenti of The Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Bolivia and Nestor Salinas, President of the Association of the Relatives of the Fallen Heroes in the Defense of the Gas, who watched over his brother in the eight days before he died from injuries received during the protests, have been fighting for two years to see justice done. The fruits of their efforts were seen early this year when the Bolivian congress, in an historical precedent subpoenaed Goni and 15 of his ministers to give their testimonies on the events of October 2003. On June 22, 2005, the State Prosecutor in Bolivian transmitted this subpoena to the US State Department for the return of Goni and his two ministers. They are the only people involved who remain to give their testimonies.

It has been over four months now and the Bolivian people are still waiting anxiously for him to be served. The US Government appears to have made no steps to advance this process. When a group of activists in Bolivia discovered that Goni had been invited to appear at the DACOR House in Washington DC on Tuesday, November 1st, at a conference hosted by a non-profit group associated with Princeton University, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Early on the morning of Tuesday November 1st, a fax was sent to US president George Bush, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Office of the Attorney General alerting them to the immanent presence of Goni at this event. The fax stated “This public appearance by the former President in your country’s capital provides the US Government with a clear opportunity to fulfill its legal obligation to serve Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada with said notice. Further delays would be an obstacle to the judicial process in Bolivian as well as international law.” The fax was signed by Sacha Llorenti and Nestor Salinas, the two plaintiffs in the case against Goni.

In a symbolic act of solidarity the event was attended by a number of concerned residents of Washington DC. One of these people, Douglas Hetzler, approached Goni before he entered the conference handing him an envelope containing the formal charges against him and a notarized subpoena. Goni took the envelope in his hands as Mr. Hertzler proceeded to state “"Mr. Sanchez de Lozada, I serve you with legal documents
from the Government of Bolivia, which require you to appear in Court in
Bolivia to answer questions regarding the wrongful deaths of 2003." A stunned Goni dropped the envelope and proceeded to walk away, ignoring all further attempts to serve him. Mr. Hertzler and the photographer were then forcibly expelled from the conference.

This act of solidarity has made front page news all over Bolivia but unfortunately it remains solely a symbolic act. The US State Department has still not acted on its legal obligation to serve Goni with his notice to return. There is doubt in the minds of everyone in Bolivia as to whether this will happen in the near future.