Reply #4: Ex-President of Bolivia Faces Suit in U.S.

[Clanfear]

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page A09

NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- A lawsuit to be unsealed Wednesday in a U.S. District Court in Maryland seeks civil damages against Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada -- the former president of Bolivia now living in exile in Chevy Chase -- for allegedly presiding over a 2003 government crackdown that left 67 civilians dead and 400 injured.

Legal experts say the case, filed by a group of 10 victims' family members, marks the most notable civil suit against a foreign former head of state residing in the United States since legal action was brought against former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s. The suit seeks damages against Sanchez de Lozada for allegedly authorizing his military to use deadly force during a series of protests that resulted in an alleged civilian "massacre." A similar suit is also scheduled to be unsealed Wednesday in Florida against Jose Carlos Sanchez Berzain, a former Sanchez de Lozada government minister who now lives in Miami.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502252.html?hpid=sec-nation