Spurious George Posted September 27, 2007 #1 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Bolivians sue former president in the United States Wed Sep 26, 2007 Relatives of Bolivians killed during violent clashes with security forces in 2003 filed a lawsuit in the United States against former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, lawyers said on Wednesday. The plaintiffs claim Sanchez de Lozada ordered a brutal crackdown on protests against his government in October 2003, killing 67 people and wounding hundreds. They want to see him convicted of crimes against humanity. Sanchez de Lozada quit his post and fled the country soon after the bloody episode, 13 months into his second term as president of the impoverished South American country. He has been living in the United States in self-exile ever since. The former president has said through representatives in La Paz that he does not intend to return to Bolivia until the country's justice system can guarantee him a fair trial. Another lawsuit with the same charges was filed against Carlos Sanchez Berzain, a former interior and defense minister. "They are the only ones responsible for what we are suffering here in Bolivia, we are not going to allow Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to tour the United States," Sonia Espejos, the widow of a man killed during the protests, said in La Paz at a news conference to announce the lawsuit. "The suits ... charge Sanchez de Lozada and Sanchez Berzain with extrajudicial killings and crimes against humanity for their role in the massacre of unarmed civilians, including children," the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. In a recent interview with local radio station Fides, Sanchez Berzain said he was the victim of political persecution. Among the plaintiffs in the case are Eloy Rojas and Etelvina Ramos, whose 8-year-old daughter was killed when a single shot was fired through their window, and Teofilo Baltazar, whose pregnant wife was killed after a bullet tore through the wall of a house, the CCR said. -- http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN26276366 A blast from the past.... Bolivian Leader's Ouster Seen As Warning on U.S. Drug Policy October 23, 2003 On a visit to the White House last year, President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada told President Bush that he would push ahead with a plan to eradicate coca but that he needed more money to ease the impact on farmers. Otherwise, the Bolivian president's advisers recalled him as saying, ''I may be back here in a year, this time seeking political asylum.'' Mr. Bush was amused, Bolivian officials recounted, told his visitor that all heads of state had tough problems and wished him good luck. Now Mr. Sánchez de Lozada, Washington's most stalwart ally in South America, is living in exile in the United States after being toppled last week by a popular uprising, a potentially crippling blow to Washington's anti-drug policy in the Andean region. United States officials interviewed here minimized the importance of the drug issue in Mr. Sánchez de Lozada's downfall, blaming a ''pent-up frustration'' over issues ranging from natural gas exports to corruption. But to many Bolivians and analysts, the coca problem is intimately tied to the broader issues of impoverishment and disenfranchisement that have stoked explosive resentments here and fueled a month of often violent protests. ''The U.S. insistence on coca eradication was at the core of Sánchez de Lozada's problem,'' said Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian scholar who is director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University in Miami. Dr. Gamarra and others point to events in Bolivia as a warning that United States drug policy may sow still wider instability in the region, where anti-American sentiment is building with the failure of economic reforms that Washington has helped encourage here. In Bolivia the backlash has strengthened the hand of the political figure regarded by Washington as its main enemy: Evo Morales, head of the coca growers' federation, who finished second in presidential election last year. -- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...mp;pagewanted=1 The backlash to US policy in Bolivia and its support for Gonzalo Sanchez, "strengthened the hand of the political figure regarded by Washington as its main enemy: Evo Morales", Evo Morales who of course is now President of Bolivia, and a close ally of Hugo Chavez, had lunch with Iranian President Ahmadinejad today, whoops What is this "backlash" or "blowback" I keep hearing about in regards to US policy around the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ships-cat Posted September 27, 2007 #2 Share Posted September 27, 2007 The head of the Coca Growers Federation is now president of Bolivia ? You've just GOT to be kidding me How long before the US invades ? Meow Purr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurious George Posted September 27, 2007 Author #3 Share Posted September 27, 2007 How long before the US invades ? They are still in the vampire-Hitler demonization stage, coups and invasions come later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted September 27, 2007 #4 Share Posted September 27, 2007 The head of the Coca Growers Federation is now president of Bolivia ? You've just GOT to be kidding me How long before the US invades ? Meow Purr. This may be news to you, but Coca leaves are legal in many countries, just when you extract pure cocaine from them it becomes illegal. So a coca grower in Bolivia is no more illegal than an aubergine grower in Britain (sort of...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ships-cat Posted September 27, 2007 #5 Share Posted September 27, 2007 (edited) This may be news to you, but Coca leaves are legal in many countries, just when you extract pure cocaine from them it becomes illegal. So a coca grower in Bolivia is no more illegal than an aubergine grower in Britain (sort of...) Hardly an apt comparison. One is a vile abomination that spreads misery throughout the world, and the other is just used for making cocaine. Out of curiousity, what else are Coca leaves used for, other than cocaine ? Oh - and I've just realised... the US can't invade Bolivia - it's landlocked. (Unless the Marines wan't to march through a few hundred miles of Peru or Chile first... ). This must really annoy the West Wing. Meow Purr. Edited September 27, 2007 by ships-cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted September 27, 2007 #6 Share Posted September 27, 2007 (edited) Hardly an apt comparison. One is a vile abomination that spreads misery throughout the world, and the other is just used for making cocaine. Out of curiousity, what else are Coca leaves used for, other than cocaine ? way too long to write it all, see here: http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/coca.htm ED:Typo Edited September 27, 2007 by questionmark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bella-Angelique Posted September 27, 2007 #7 Share Posted September 27, 2007 closing and securing us borders and ports is the last thing drug nations want and what the usa should do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girty1600 Posted September 27, 2007 #8 Share Posted September 27, 2007 They are still in the vampire-Hitler demonization stage, coups and invasions come later We are? Well let us know when we're ready..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurious George Posted September 27, 2007 Author #9 Share Posted September 27, 2007 We are? Well let us know when we're ready..... Will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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