BOLIVIA: The former Bolivian dictator, Mr Hugo Banzer, died early yesterday at his home in the eastern city of Santa Cruz surrounded by his family, his doctor announced. He was 75.
A dominant figure in Bolivian politics for more than three decades, Mr Banzer died of a heart attack after a prolonged struggle against lung and brain cancer, said his personal physician, Dr Freddy Terrazas.
Mr Banzer's military regime from 1971 to 1978 was characterised by widespread human rights abuses and extrajudicial executions of political detainees.
In 1997, at the age of 71, Mr Banzer swept into power at the head of a coalition of conservative parties, but was forced to resign in early August 2001 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga - who stepped in to complete Banzer's term in office - travelled to Santa Cruz yesterday, where a wake will be held for the former president.
Mr Banzer's past caught up with him last December: an Argentine judge asked for his extradition on charges of participating in the Plan Condor, a co-ordinated effort by military regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay to track, abduct or arrest, and sometimes murder left-wing opponents.