Juan Perez Munguia / La Paz
Legislators from the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) and a former minister closed ranks to shield former President Evo Morales and prevent the extradition of Maximiliano Dávila, former director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (Felcn).
Photo: Carlos Sánchez / Page Seven
The United States Department of State (USA) published the image of Dávila internationally and offered a reward of five million dollars for information on his links with the trafficking of controlled substances, which leads to a conviction against him.
The US administration also formally requested from the Foreign Ministry the preventive detention for extradition purposes of the former head of the Felcn.
Carlos Romero, former Minister of Government and member of Morales’ entourage, asked that the former president not be involved with the actions of the former police chief. “Ever since Evo Morales was a union leader in the Cochabamba tropics, they have always accused him of drug trafficking, murder, terrorist, Bin Laden Andino. He is a man who has endured unjust accusations and out of moral conscience I express myself: I ask for respect for Evo Morales, ”emphasized the former authority.
Romero questioned that the US offers a reward for information, when the DEA supposedly had all the documentation on Dávila.
The president of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, stated that it is not appropriate to hand over Dávila to the US justice system. “We must judge him in our country. We know that the fight against drug trafficking since 2006 has been nationalized in our country,” said the legislator.
Masista senator Leonardo Loza described the five million dollar reward offered by the US government as “blackmail”. He in turn said that it is not appropriate for a compatriot to be tried in another country.
“Deep down, the US tries to make fun of the country, it is an interference. They have all the information (about drug trafficking in Bolivia), they don’t have to make any excuses,” he charged.
Another suggestion in the MAS
The ruling deputy Juan José Jáuregui argued that the extradition treaty between Bolivia and the US establishes reciprocity, for which Dávila can be handed over to the northern country in exchange for former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and former minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín.
“The claim of the Bolivian State, which it reiterated at the time, in relation to those who were actors and participants in the October 2003 massacre, will have to be addressed. It would have to be assessed by the North American State, so that this reciprocity condition can be met. ”, he expressed.
However, article 3 of the Extradition Treaty between Bolivia and the US specifies that neither party will be obliged to extradite its nationals, except when the request refers, among others, to crimes related to illicit trafficking in controlled substances.
Nationalization that failed
Political analyst Hugo San Martín asserted that the fight against drug trafficking in Bolivia, since 2006, is a failure. According to the reading of it, the involvement of former police chiefs in the trafficking of controlled substances demonstrates that.
“The nationalization of the fight against drug trafficking was a failure. In Bolivia, the fight against drug trafficking has been weakened and, as a result, we have international cartels that are in the country”, he stressed.
San Martín stated that the voices within the ruling party that do not want Maximiliano Dávila to be extradited to the US make one suspect that they want to cover up something or someone.
