LatinNews Daily - 4 December 2024

*Bolivia’s former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-1997, 2002-2003) has been sentenced by the supreme court (TSJ) to six years and three months in prison in relation to corrupt oil contracts awarded during his presidencies. The 94-year-old Sánchez de Lozada was sentenced in absentia and has resided since 2003 in the US, which has denied Bolivian extradition requests. The sentence resulted from the ‘Petrocontratos’ investigation, which according to the local press concerns over 100 contracts signed with 21 transnational companies regarding hydrocarbon exploration and extraction. The contracts were reportedly signed without authorisation by congress. Also sentenced to five years in prison were former hydrocarbons minister Jorge Berindoague (2003); former deputy energy & hydrocarbons minister Carlos Alberto Contreras del Solar (1999-2001); and Carlos Alberto López Quiroga, a former national energy secretary (1997) and deputy energy & hydrocarbons minister (1997-1999). Contreras del Solar’s involvement in the corruption scheme occurred during the second presidency of Hugo Banzer (1971-1978, 1997-2001).