Peru grants former Bolivian minister asylum
May 9, 2009 - Radio Netherlands

Peru has granted asylum to Mirtha Quevedo, the leader of the Bolivian opposition, who fled prosecution for a bloody clampdown on a popular uprising in 2003. Sixty people were killed in the clampdown and around 500 others injured.

The uprising was against the then-president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Ms Quevedo, who served as a minister under the former president, fled to Peru because she feared she would not receive a fair trial.

In 2003, President Sánchez de Lozada fled to the United States. Two other former ministers, Jorges Torres and Yerko Kukoc, have also fled to Peru. They have requested asylum, which up to now has not been granted. The trial against the three former ministers begins in Bolivia next week.