The anxieties of Evo Morales

 By: Casto Ocando - Univision

Evo Morales y Hugo Chávez

René Sanabria-Oropeza, Bolivian General and former drug czar, will be sentenced on Friday, September 23^rd in a federal court in Miami. He acknowledged having provided “all information and evidence” about their connections to drug trafficking in Bolivia in order to get the largest possible sentence reduction.

In a document filed by Sabrina Puglisi, general counsel for the Bolivian general, this past Monday at Judge Ursula Ungaro’s federal court in Miami, it is stated: “the defendant has truthfully provided the (U.S.) Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense.”

“Counsel has provided the (U.S.) Government with a detailed statement regarding the specific facts surrounding the events in this case and counsel understands that the government is satisfied with this specific factor,” added the document.

The clarification came because the defense is hoping that Sanabria “be sentenced without regard to the mandatory minimum”, and receive a sentence of 9 years in prison at most.

The extent of information provided to the US Government by Sanabria has been a substantial source of anxiety for the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales.

“The general must have negotiated so that his sentence be shorter; maybe negotiated the image of the president. I warned the cabinet to prepare for what lies ahead,” said Morales on Sunday in Bolivia, before departing on tour to Venezuela, Cuba and the UN.

Morales’ apparent paranoia has gone so far as to accuse the U.S. of preparing a plan to plant drugs on his official plane, in an effort to detain him so that he could stand trial for drug trafficking.

“I think they may be preparing something, I’m afraid to go with our plane to the US. Surely when we get there, they can get something and stop the aircraft of the President. They are up to something to discredit us,” said the Bolivian president on July 24^th.

Sanabria was arrested on February 26^th at the international airport of Tocumen, Panama, in an operation led by the DEA. Sanabria was accused of organizing a shipment of 100 kilos of cocaine from Bolivia to Miami via Chile. Sanabria subsequently pled guilty to the charges.

Since his arrest, important insights have emerged on the links between Bolivian government officials and international drug cartels from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

In a recent exclusive investigation, Univision revealed important documents showing links between at least 40 Bolivian government officials to drug traffickers, including the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, El Chapo Guzman, one of the most wanted criminals in the world with a fortune estimated at $1 billion.

Among the officers with some connection to the cartels is the head of Bolivia’s drug police, General Oscar Nina, according to documents obtained by Univision.

The Bolivian opposition has accused the Bolivian minister Sasha Llorenti of failing to properly investigate general Sanabria’s connections with the cocaine cartels.

“We the opposition have asked a congressional commission to investigate links between Sanabria and Sacha Llorenti. However, the evistas congressmen blocked the proposal,” Jessica Echeverria, a congresswoman with the opposition, told me.

The latest element of friction between Washington and La Paz was last Friday’s inclusion of Bolivia in the White House’s list of countries that do not provide sufficient cooperation to combat drug trafficking. Bolivia, the largest producer of coca leaf, occupied the top of the list, next to Venezuela, considered the greatest passage-country for international cocaine traffic; and Burma, the world’s heroin production hub.