News Americas, LA PAZ, Bolivia, Weds. Aug. 31, 2011: Five top military officers from Bolivia have been jailed for between 10 and 15 years in prison.
Bolivia’s Supreme Court convicted four former generals and an admiral over the killings of at least 64 people during protests in 2003.
The former generals, Roberto Claros Flores, Juan Veliz Herrera, Jose Ovaldo Quiroga and Gonzalo Alberto Rocabado, and Adm Luis Alberto Aranda Granados were jailed over what has become known as the “Black October case.”
Two former ministers were jailed for three years each for complicity in what was described as a “genocide.”
The protesters in El Alto had demanded an end to the export of natural gas to the US using Chilean ports. More than 400 people were injured as soldiers opened fire during protests in the city of El Alto, near La Paz, the seat of the government.
