Morales' Extradition Quandary

We have written on a variety of occasions here about the Bolivian legal case against former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Mr. Sánchez de Lozada fled Bolivia four years ago this month in the wake of government repression that left more than sixty people dead.

In addition to a U.S. civil case recently brought by families of those killed, the ex-President also faces Bolivian criminal charges. In September the Bolivian Supreme Court issued a formal demand for Sánchez de Lozada's extradition from the U.S. He has lived comfortably in suburban Maryland since his ouster from Bolivia.

The Bush administration has refused, to date, all legal requests from Bolivia related to the case. The Bolivian Embassy in Washington is currently preparing an English translation of the Court's extradition demand, and Ambassador Gustavo Guzman plans to present it formally to the U.S. State Department and push for U.S. action.

All of which brings us to the case of Walter Chavez, a Peruvian journalist who has served as a communication advisor to President Morales. Previous to that Mr. Chavez worked for many years as a well-known writer here. Chavez, however, also has a new position in Bolivian politics. He is the subject of a formal extradition request from the government of Peru. The government there has filed "terrorism" charges against Chavez and is demanding that he be returned to stand trial.

I don't know the details of the Chavez case or the veracity of any of the charges against him. What I do know is that, side-by-side, the Chavez and "Goni" cases present a problem for the Morales government. How can it demand Mr. Sánchez de Lozada's extradition from the U.S. yet deny Peru's request for the same in the Chavez case? In formal diplomatic terms, this is called, "a real pickle."

If the Morales government refuses Peru's request – claiming that the charges are politically motivated, or that Chavez cannot get a fair trial in Peru – the U.S. State Department might just cut and paste the exact same language into its response to Bolivia's extradition request for Sánchez de Lozada. To be certain, extraditing Chavez to Peru is no guarantee that the U.S. would follow-suit. In fact, if I were picking an image to represent the chances of the U.S. sending Sánchez de Lozada home it would be a pig with wings.

But there is little question that the Chavez case complicates Bolivia's argument to send Sánchez de Lozada home.