US to Extradite Ex Bolivia Minister

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Prensa Latina

US to Extradite Ex Bolivia Minister

La Paz, Nov 20 (Prensa Latina) Bolivia's ombudsman Waldo Albarracin confirmed Tuesday former Government Minister Luis Arce Gomez will be extradited from the US, where he is imprisoned for drug trafficking, in line with reciprocal treaties signed by the two governments.

According to Albarracin, the former minister should be sent back on November 23, under maximum security measures, to then serve another 30 years in the Chonchocoro prison, with no right to pardon.

He explained that a group of lawyers is in Washington arranging the expatriation to Bolivia of the so called ó cocaine minister, ó who served during the military dictatorship of Luis Garcia Meza (1980-1981).

Arce Gomez is charged with genocide, murder, and damage to the State economy..



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Luis Arce Gómez:

Colonel Luis Arce Gómez was a Bolivian military officer. Of strong conservative, anti-communist persuasion, in 1980 he backed the bloody coup (sometimes referred to as the "Cocaine Coup") that brought to power the infamous General Luis García Meza. Indeed, Arce served as García Meza's right-hand man and Minister of the Interior.

Arce Gomez's tenure as Bolivia's chief repressor including the passing of such measures as the banning of all political parties, the incarceration and/or exile of most political opponents, the repression of the unions, and the censorship of the media. Among García Meza and Arce's collaborators were former Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, Italian terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie, and professional torturers allegedly imported from the murderous Argentine dictatorship of General Jorge Rafael Videla. Some 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the Bolivian security apparatus in only 13 months. Apparently, Arce Gomez meant it when he cautioned that all Bolivians who may be opposed to the new order should "walk around with their written will under their arms." The most prominent victim of the dictatorship was the congressman, politician, and gifted orator Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, murdered and "disappeared" soon after the coup. Quiroga had been the chief advocate of bringing to trial the former dictator, General Banzer (1971-78), for human right violations and economic mismanagement.

As if all this were not enough, the García Meza government was also deeply involved in drug trafficking activities, and may have come to power financed directly by the drug cartels. The main link of the regime to the drug dealers seems to have none other than the notorious Colonel Arce. The impunity with which he and García Meza operated led to the complete isolation of their government. Even the new, conservative U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, kept its distance and seemed to prefer better options. Eventually, Arce Gómez was forced to resign, as was his boss, García. In the late 1980s, Arce was extradited to the United States, where he is currently in jail, serving a lengthy sentence for drug trafficking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Arce_G%C3%B3mez



Luis Arce Gómez

[Benhurst]

1. WIth that resume, I'm surprised there wasn't a place for him in the Bush Administration.

[Judi Lynn]

2. He surely does sound like their kind of guy! You know he'd be so "at home"

with all _Bush's Defense Dept. guys, as well as Mr. Death Squad, John Negroponte, and John Bolton. The list is endless.

[Skink]

3. I think the CIA has openings.