Ex-Bolivia President Goni Lashes Out

The higher power? Why, of course, it was the editorial board of the Miami Herald (a.k.a. Oligarch's Daily) which published two nearly identical stories about Goni's efforts to fight against his extradition.

One story, by Pablo Bachelet, is in English.

The other story, by Joaquim Utset, is in Spanish.

But in whatever language, Goni said, according to the Herald that "the Bolivian justice system" - a system he helped to form - "was not independent enough to guarantee a fair trial."

In the Spanish-language version, Goni went wild with accusations and conspiracy theories, accusing his former vice president, now president, Carlos Mesa of having participated in a "coup" (Goni signed a resignation letter) and comparing the current president to Russia's early 20th century transitional leader Alexander Kerensky...
According to El Nuevo Herald (I'll translate):

"The vice president was part of the coup," said Sánchez de Lozada, who compared Mesa to the figure of the moderate socialist Russian Alexander Kerensky who took the reins of his country after the fall of Czar Nicholas and ended up being a victim of the Bolshevik revolution.

Claiming that Bolivia is "in the grips of a 'lynch-mob environment,'" Goni "said he preferred to be tried by an outside judge and mentioned Spain's crusading judge, Baltazar Garzón."

Ah, right: the one who let Pinochet get away!

Goni, reports the Herald, also has contracted a Miami law firm, although says he is living in the suburbs of Washington DC and not in Southern Florida:

Sánchez de Lozada has retained Steel, Hector and Davis LLP, a Miami law firm, to study his options, which include the possibility of requesting asylum in the United States. He said he was living in the United States on a F2 visa, given to spouses and dependents of students. His wife is enrolled in an English language program at Georgetown University.

The Nuevo Herald version in Spanish said the coca growers of Bolivia were primarily responsible for Goni's resignation last year:

Trial for the ex-president was one of the first goals set after his resignation by indigenous coca grower leaders like Evo Morales, the protagonists of the mobilizations against Sánchez de Lozada for his plan to exploit, with the help of the private sector, the rich gas reserves of the country and export the gas through the ports in Chile that were taken from Bolivia in the 19th Century....

Goni was an obedient functionary for the US-imposed "war on drugs." Now he faces criminal charges and extradition - like so many accused drug law violators before him. What a difference a year makes.