This means that an official letter from the City & County of San
Francisco will go to the US State Department urging  Goni's return to
Bolivia to face trial...  We will get an official copy of the letter
to those in Bolivia as well.

Special thanks to Supervisor Chris Daly for introducing the resolution
and to Rev. Norman Fong who did the organizing to make it happen.

The text of the Resolutin is below.

[Justice for the Bolivian People Massacred in October 2003
Demonstrations]

Resolution supporting justice for the Bolivian people massacred in
October 2003 demonstrations and supporting the survivors' legal
request that Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, Carlos Sanchez Berzain and
Jorge Berindoague return to Bolivia immediately to stand trial in the
case against them.

WHEREAS, During October of 2003, the people of Bolivia protested a
plan by President Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada's to export
Bolivia's natural gas to California via Chile; the sale of which would
have benefited private oil companies rather than the Bolivian people;
and
WHEREAS, On October 11, 2003 Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and two of his
ministers, Carlos Sanchez Berzain and Jorge Berindoague, signed
Supreme Decree No. 27209 directing the military to break up
demonstrations that blocked fuel truck access to the city of La Paz;
and
WHEREAS, 67 people were killed, including innocent children as young
as 5 years old and elderly bystanders as old as 70, and more than 400
were wounded as the military used deadly force to break up these civil
demonstrations; and
WHEREAS, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, Carlos Sanchez Berzain, and Jorge
Berindoague fled Bolivia on October 17, 2003 and currently reside in
the United States; in Chevy Chase MD, Key Biscayne FL, and in Moraga,
CA, respectively; and
WHEREAS, Amnesty International concluded it is "of vital importance to
carry out exhaustive and independent investigations into the events of
October 2003, make the outcome of the investigations public and bring
those responsible to justice;" and
WHEREAS, In 2004 the Bolivian people gathered 700,000 signatures
demanding that the government investigate the killings and two thirds
of Bolivia's Congress voted to authorize a "Trial of Responsibility";
and
WHEREAS, The Bolivian Attorney General's Office conducted a rigorous
and thorough investigation into the deaths of October 2003 to
determine whether Sánchez de Lozada and his cabinet ministers should
be held legally responsible for the violence; and
WHEREAS, These investigations exhumed the bodies of the dead for
autopsies to provide evidence, carried out detailed forensic studies,
crime scene investigations and eyewitness testimony – all of which
point to the excessive use of force against protestors by the armed
forces; and
WHEREAS, Twelve government ministers have already testified in the
case, most of whom have blamed Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, and
WHEREAS, As a result nine of the ministers have been indicted on a
number of charges, the most serious being "genocide in the form of
bloody massacre"; and
WHEREAS, Sanchez de Lozada, Berzain and Berindoague are the only three
individuals remaining to testify and the Bolivian people and
Government demand that these three officials stand trail for their
involvement; and
WHEREAS, The Bolivian Foreign Ministry issued a legal request to the
U.S. State Department on June 22, 2005 directing the U.S. to serve
Sanchez de Lozada, Berzain, and Berindoague with legal notice to
return to Bolivia to provide testimony in this case; and
WHEREAS, Despite repeated attempts by the Bolivian Government to urge
the U.S. to serve these three men, the U.S. government has failed to
notify them, and has failed to respond to this official request; and
WHEREAS, October 17th 2006 marks the 3 year anniversary of Sanchez de
Lozada, Berzain, and Berindoague's departure from Bolivia; and
WHEREAS, October 17th 2006 has been declared a "Global Day of Action
in Solidarity with the People of Bolivia" by the Bolivia Solidarity
Network, Joining Hands Against Hunger San Francisco Presbytery, Global
Exchange, Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas, School of the
Americas Watch, and Stop Impunity; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco, in memory of
those Bolivians who lost their lives during October 2003, hereby
affirms its support of the Bolivian people and their legal request
that Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, Carlos Sanchez Berzain and Jorge
Berindoague return to Bolivia immediately to stand trail in the case
against them; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be communicated to the
U.S. State Department for their information.