LATIN AMERICA : U.S. Embassy Smarting in Bolivia Sting Operation

The U.S. Embassy in Bolivia participated in a sting operation aimed at proving that the president of the Bolivian Supreme Court was soliciting a bribe from a U.S. citizen. The court’s president and another justice are now on trial in the Senate, and the embassy is on trial in the press.

The case offers a telling taste of Bolivian politics, a murky stew that often smacks of back-room deals, corruption and U.S. intervention.

Supreme Court President Edgar Oblitas and Justice Ernesto Poppe are suspended from the court pending the outcome of their Senate trial. The U.S. Embassy is trying to keep a low profile, but its name keeps popping up in the proceedings and press coverage.

In statements to the press, Oblitas has accused the embassy of trying to destroy the current Supreme Court and replace it with one that would be submissive to U.S. wishes.

In a confidential letter to the Bolivian Foreign Ministry that leaked out to newspapers, the embassy said it does not wish to involve itself in Bolivia’s internal affairs or influence judicial processes, but “wants only what all Bolivians want: a system of justice that is honest and impartial.”

The trouble began in January, 1993, when the government of Nicaragua requested the extradition of Jose Antonio Ibarra, a former Nicaraguan vice minister under President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. Ibarra, wanted on charges of embezzlement, was then teaching university courses in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

Ibarra has testified that he received a request in the name of Poppe for $5,000 to settle the extradition case in Ibarra’s favor. He told U.S. officials of the request, asking for help because he has U.S. as well as Nicaraguan citizenship. David Dlouy, the No. 2 U.S. diplomat in Bolivia, reported the request to Oblitas in June. Oblitas took no official action.

In September, Ibarra told U.S. officials of a $15,000 bribe request from former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Galindo in Oblitas’ name. U.S. and Bolivian officials decided to try to trap Galindo in a sting operation.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration installed a camera in Ibarra’s Cochabamba home before Galindo visited him on Sept. 30, and the hidden camera recorded Ibarra handing Galindo $1,000 in marked bills as a “down payment.” On Oct. 4, the Supreme Court rejected the extradition request.

Authorities filed charges against Oblitas and Poppe that same month, and the lower house of Congress sent the case to the Senate for trial in January.

Oblitas’ defense attorney, Juan Carlos Lazcano, said there is no evidence directly linking the Supreme Court president to any bribe requests. Independent analysts observe, however, that the Senate will not necessarily be bound by legal rules of evidence in what is essentially a political trial.

One of Lazcano’s tactics apparently is to win support from nationalist politicians who oppose a presidential plan to privatize government enterprises. Lazcano said the government wants to remove Oblitas because he opposes privatization.

Another tactic appears aimed at arousing indignation over U.S. intervention. Lazcano said the U.S. Embassy wants Oblitas out because he has led the court in blocking the extradition of Bolivians wanted in the United States for drug trafficking.

Setting the Trap

The events leading up to the sting operation that ensnared two Bolivian Supreme Court justices:

1. Nicaragua asks Bolivia to extradite former Vice Minister Jose Antonio Ibarra to face embezzlement charges.

2. Ibarra informs U.S. officials that he received a request in the name of Supreme Court Justice Ernesto Poppe for $5,000 to prevent the extradition (Ibarra has U.S citizenship).

3. American diplomat in Bolivia reports the alleged request to Bolivia’s president, who takes no official action.

4. Ibarra tells U.S. officials of a second, $15,000 bribe request from former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Galindo in the Supreme Court president’s name.

5. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration installs video camera in Ibarra’s home. Camera records Ibarra allegedly handing Galindo $1,000 in marked bills as a “down payment.”