CNN
January 28, 1999
 
 
Bolivia to send Spain list of disappeared citizens


                  LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) -- Bolivia's Congress said on Thursday it will
                  send Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon a list of Bolivians who disappeared
                  under the dictatorship of Chile's Augusto Pinochet in hopes of becoming a
                  witness against him.

                  "We cannot forget this issue and I believe we have taken the best course,"
                  Hugo Carvajal, president of the Chamber of Deputies, told reporters.

                  Pinochet is currently in England awaiting a decision by the country's top
                  court over whether or not he can be extradited to Spain, where Garzon has
                  accused him of torture and the murder of thousands while he ruled Chile
                  between 1973 and 1990.

                  Carvajal said the list included seven people and that he hopes the action will
                  allow Bolivia to constitute itself as a witness in the case.

                  The action will not affect former dictator and current President Hugo Banzer,
                  Carvajal said.

                  Banzer seized power 28 years ago in a bloody coup and held office seven
                  years until 1978, when he stepped aside for free elections.

                  He has been consistently described in the local press as the Bolivian link in
                  the 1970s "Condor Plan" in which Latin American dictators coordinated
                  anti-leftists actions. He has denied knowledge of the plan.

                  The 72-year-old former general won the presidency after several attempts in
                  1997.

                  Carvajal said that for diplomatic reasons, the Chamber of Deputies would
                  send Banzer the list so that he could then send it to Spain through the
                  Ministry of Foreign Relations.

                  The list of the disappeared includes: Jorge Riios Dalenz, Ignacio Soto
                  Quiroga, Ramiro Carlos Gonzales, Antonio Saavedra Gonzales, Donato
                  Quispe Choque, Luis Buch Morales and Amelia Vera Almarza.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.