MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Bolivian president Sánchez de Lozada sentenced to 6 years in jail

Sánchez de Losada, 94, has lived in the United States since fleeing Bolivia amid social unrest resulting in some 60 deaths

Bolivia's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) Tuesday sentenced former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-1997 and 2002-2003) to 6 years in jail for signing numerous oil contracts without parliamentary approval. The 94-year-old former head of State resides in the United States and it remains to be seen whether he can be extradited.

The Justice Ministry celebrated the “historic sentence” in the “Petrocontratos Case” after a trial conducted with the purpose of “combating impunity in corruption crimes that seriously affected the sovereignty, patrimony, and interests of the country in past administrations, trying to impose a neoliberal model, essentially capitalist and mercantilist in the management of the economy.”

In addition to Sánchez de Lozada, former ministers Jorge Berindoague, Carlos Alberto Contreras, and Carlos Alberto López were sentenced to five years in prison for “anti-economic conduct and breach of duties.” They too live abroad. Sánchez de Lozada and the other defendants were ordered to serve their sentences at the Chonchocoro prison in La Paz. They were also disenfranchised for five years.

“These crimes were committed by signing 107 contracts for the commercialization, exploration, and exploitation of hydrocarbons, without the authorization of the then Legislative Branch, in clear violation of the constitutional and legal regulations in force at the time of the accused facts,” a statement from the Justice Ministry went on. The ruling “enables the possibility of initiating the extradition process of the sentenced men,” the Ministry added.

Sánchez de Lozada has lived abroad since 2003 when he left Bolivia in the midst of the social upheaval known as 'Black October', which resulted in more than 60 deaths.

The Bolivian Government also announced Tuesday that it will seek economic repairs for the damage caused to the State, Justice Minister César Siles explained. As per these contracts, Bolivia received only 18% of the benefits while 82% went to transnational interests, thus constituting the damage for which reparation is now being sought by the Hydrocarbons Ministry and/or the State-owned oil company YPFB, who will present the claim for reparations, quantifying the economic damage based on audits or documents that support the amount. Siles also pointed out that international legal cooperation mechanisms were to be summoned to freeze the accounts and seize the assets abroad of those responsible.