Document #1080571
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The information below was provided in a 19
May 1995 telephone interview with the director of the Latin
American and Caribbean Studies Centre at Miami International
University, who recently returned from field research in Bolivia.
According to the director, the only extradition treaty between
Bolivia and the United States is one dating from 1900.
The director stated that this treaty
obviously did not deal with drug offences, but mainly with common
criminals of both Bolivian and American nationality. The director
also reported that there is an official extradition treaty under
preparation between Bolivia and the United States specifically
designed for drug offences, and that it should be enacted by 30
June 1995. According to the director, this extradition treaty "is
being done under the gun. It is basically the result of intense
pressures from the U.S. on Bolivia, under threats of suspending
American economic aid."
Until now, said the source, extradition of
Bolivian drug traffickers could be completed under a Bolivian
Supreme Court interpretation of the 1900 extradition treaty
combined with provisions of the Vienna Convention of 1988.
The director did not know whether there
exists an extradition treaty between Bolivia and Canada for similar
offences.
For information on the 1900 extradition
treaty between Bolivia and the United States, as well as on recent
extraditions of Bolivian drug traffickers, please consult the
attached documents.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Director of the Latin American and
Caribbean Studies Centre, Miami International University. 19 May
1995. Telephone interview.
Drug Trafficking Update [Lima].
13 February 1995. No. 58. "Bolivia: The Extradition of Rico Toro,"
pp. 1-2.
_____. 12 September 1994. No. 53.
"Region: The Extradition of Traffickers in the Region," p. 2.
_____. 11 November 1991. No. 19.
"Bolivia: Extradition, Non-Fulfillment and Money Blocking," p.
2.
_____. 12 August 1991. No. 16. "Bolivia:
New Policy Facilitates Drug Traffickers' Surrender," p. 2.
Latin American Weekly Report
[London]. 13 April 1995. "Bolivia: Rico Toro Extradited," p.
161.
Latin American Regional Reports:
Andean Group [London]. 9 March 1995. "Bolivia: Rico Toro Faces
Extradition to US," p. 7.
Painter, James. 1994. Bolivia and
Coca: A Study in Dependency. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers,
pp. 80-85.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
(FBIS) Reports. Daily.
Latin America Update
[Washington]. Monthly.
Latinamerica Press [Lima].
Weekly.
Latin American Newsletters
[London]. Monthly.
Latin American Regional Reports:
Southern Cone Report [London].
Latin American Special Reports
[London].
Mexico Newspak [Austin, Tx].
Monthly.
NACLA Report on the Americas.
Monthly.
Problèmes d'amérique
latine. Quarterly.
On-line searches.
Oral sources.