Bolivia extradites Argentine 'Dirty War' suspect

Bolivia on Sunday extradited an Argentine ex-military officer wanted for human rights violations in his native country, officials said one day after announcing his arrest. Luis Enrique Baraldini, linked to crimes committed during his country's "Dirty War" in the 1970s and 1980s, "was delivered to the Argentine authorities in Bermejo," a border city, Bolivia's Interior Minister Wilfredo Chavez told AFP by telephone. He declined to provide further details, citing security concerns. Baraldini was arrested in Bolivia's economic capital of Santa Cruz, where he allegedly lived under the false name Marco Antonio Aponte for half a dozen years. Argentina had offered a reward of some $23,000 for information leading to his arrest. Argentina's justice ministry linked him to human rights abuses committed by former general Guillermo Suarez Mason, accused of ordering the killing of thousands of alleged dissidents during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Bolivian officials said they located Baraldini by tracking his wife, who traveled from Argentina to spend Christmas with him. Argentine prosecutor Marta Odasso said officials learned about the wife's visit from Interpol. Police found Baraldini and his children in a sport utility vehicle, and when authorities questioned him he showed a false identity document. Chavez said the expulsion was permitted by Bolivian law because Baraldini had been using a false name. An estimated 30,000 people died in Argentina's "Dirty War," the dictatorship's brutal campaign against mostly leftist dissidents, according to rights groups. Those targeted in the campaign are popularly known as the "disappeared" because many were taken to detention centers where they were tortured and executed without their families knowing their exact whereabouts. In recent years, Argentina and other Latin American countries have put several former military officers and senior officials on trial for crimes committed during similar crackdowns in the 1970s and 1980s.