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ADVOCATING FOR AMERICAN JACOB

OSTREICHER’S FREEDOM AFTER TWO YEARS

IN BOLIVIAN DETENTION

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

MAY 20, 2013

Serial No. 113–67

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

PAUL COOK, California 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

TREY RADEL, Florida 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

LUKE MESSER, Indiana 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

JUAN VARGAS, California 

BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

KAREN BASS, California 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESS 

Mr. Sean Penn, founder and chief executive officer, J/P Haitian Relief Organization ..................................................................................................................... 8

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Mr. Sean Penn: Prepared statement ...................................................................... 14

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 32

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 33

The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global 

Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations: Material 

submitted for the record ...................................................................................... 34

The Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York: Material submitted for the record ............................................... 35

(1)

ADVOCATING FOR AMERICAN JACOB 

OSTREICHER’S FREEDOM AFTER TWO 

YEARS IN BOLIVIAN DETENTION 

MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:05 p.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The committee will come to order, and thank you all 

for coming to this very important hearing to press for the immediate freedom and repatriation of Mr. Jacob Ostreicher, a U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, New York who has been detained in Bolivia for 

718 days. I especially want to thank and welcome to our committee 

our distinguished witness, Mr. Sean Penn, for taking time out of 

a very busy schedule to testify before the subcommittee today. 

Thank you for being here and for your leadership. 

This human rights panel, in the 112th Congress, held two congressional hearings on Mr. Ostreicher’s case, one in June and the 

second in August 2012. The witnesses included Mr. Ostreicher’s 

wife Miriam Ungar, his daughter Chaya Weinberger, Steve Moore, 

a retired FBI agent who investigated Mr. Ostreicher’s case on a pro 

bono basis, all three of whom are in the audience today, and Mr. 

Ostreicher’s two Bolivian attorneys Mr. Yimy Montano and Mr. 

Jerjes Justiniano, who are not only ordinarily effective and competent defense lawyers, but very brave as well. 

The record, including their testimonies, established that Mr. 

Ostreicher is innocent, and is the victim of an elaborate, high level 

government extortion ring that has fleeced approximately $27 million of assets from the rice operation that he had been managing. 

It is time that Jacob came home to his wife and his family and 

his friends. Basic justice and humanitarianism—Jacob is after all 

very ill—adds to the urgency that he be free. 

In one sense, a lot has happened since the hearing last August. 

Tragically Mr. Ostreicher has developed the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, likely due to the sustained severe stress to which he 

has been subjected. 

Immediately following a meeting that I had with Bolivian officials in La Paz last June, including Carlos Romero, the Minister 

2

of Government, Bolivia started to investigate whether Mr. 

Ostreicher was the victim of extortion. A total of 27 prosecutors, 

judges, and officials responsible for confiscated goods who were involved in Mr. Ostreicher’s case have now had charges made against 

them. Currently 13 of them are in Palmasola prison, nine are 

under house arrest, and five are fugitives. 

One of those in prison, Fernando Rivera, is a Ministry of Government adviser who I personally witnessed threaten the judge presiding at one Mr. Ostreicher’s hearings in a Santa Cruz courtroom. 

Mr. Rivera recently apologized to Mr. Ostreicher during a bail 

hearing, claiming that he was only following the orders of then 

Minister of Government Llorenti. In one of the many bizarre twists 

of this story, Mr. Llorenti is now the Bolivian representative to the 

United Nations, living in New York just a few miles away from Mr. 

Ostreicher’s home. 

I traveled for a second time to Bolivia in early December, this 

time with Congresswoman Nydia Vela ́zquez, to visit Mr. Ostreicher 

and again press Bolivian officials to either produce the evidence 

that he had committed a crime or free him. High level officials assured us that Mr. Ostreicher’s case would proceed fairly and expeditiously now that the extortion network had been exposed. Some 

officials even admitted to us privately that they believed Mr. 

Ostreicher was innocent. 

Mr. Penn became involved in the case in October and was instrumental in obtaining desperately needed medical care for Mr. 

Ostreicher and for helping to secure his release from the infamous 

Palmasola prison to house arrest which occurred on December 

18th. With Mr. Penn’s personal intervention with President Morales and with Mr. Penn in the courtroom, all of us had hoped that 

Jacob would at long last be released and vindicated at a hearing 

in December. Inexplicably, that didn’t happen. 

The State Department references Mr. Ostreicher’s case in its 

2012 Country Report on Human Rights and Practices for Bolivia, 

and notes the arrest of government officials and the stolen assets 

as part of its section on arbitrary arrests or detention. 

In another sense, the most important aspects of the case have 

not changed. Mr. Ostreicher is still in the custody of the Government of Bolivia. On June 4th, it will be 2 years since he was first 

imprisoned. Bolivian officials are employing delay tactics and giving excuses for his continued detention, and we have heard those 

before. No evidence whatsoever has been presented to indicate that 

Mr. Ostreicher is guilty of any crime, and there is no sign of the 

$27 million of assets from his rice operation that were confiscated. 

Perhaps this last fact is the real reason why Mr. Ostreicher is still 

not home with his family in the United States. 

Recently, there have been reports from credible sources that 

there is another security threat to Mr. Ostreicher’s safety. These 

followed the sudden removal of Bolivian security officers from the 

perimeter of Mr. Ostreicher’s residence the day after Mr. Rivera 

implicated the current Bolivian representative to the U.N. in the 

extortion case. As long as Mr. Ostreicher is forced to remain in Bolivia the government is responsible for and must take all necessary 

measures to ensure his safety. 

3

As a result of the continued injustice in Mr. Ostreicher’s case and 

also in response to the growing number of cases of Americans living detained abroad in violation of their human and due process 

rights, I, together with Representative Vela ́zquez have reintroduced the Justice for Imprisoned Americans Overseas Act, or Jacob’s Law. H.R. 1778 would deny visas to foreign government officials responsible for violating the human rights or due process 

rights of an American in their custody. The travel ban would also 

apply to the officials’ immediate family members. 

It is wrong for our Government to give foreign officials and their 

families the privilege—and it is a privilege, not a right—to visit 

and study in the United States while those same officials are 

wrongfully detaining an American abroad. I would note parenthetically that I wrote a law in 2004 for the Belarus Democracy Act, 

which does the exact same thing toward the Lukashenka regime in 

Minsk. 

While this bill works its way through the legislative process, our 

committee will continue to pursue every means possible to secure 

Mr. Ostreicher’s safe return to his wife, children and 11 grandchildren. And that is why we are holding this hearing today. 

President Morales is flying, as we all know, to Atlanta today for 

a meeting with former President Jimmy Carter to ask for his assistance in negotiating land access through Chile to the Pacific 

Ocean. We have been assured that the President, former President 

of the United States will raise the issue. I contacted the Carter 

Center earlier today and I was told that it was on the agenda. And 

I am very, very encouraged by that. 

It is a very high privilege though to have Mr. Penn with us here 

today, not only because of his fame that he has rightly earned and 

garnered through his Academy Award winning acting, and not only 

because of his highly commendable assistance he is bringing to the 

suffering people in Haiti through the relief organization that he 

founded, but also because of the extraordinary assistance that he 

has provided to Mr. Ostreicher, who he had never met until he met 

him in Bolivia. That assistance now includes joining us today, but 

it is part of a long series of interventions that Mr. Penn has expended on behalf of Jacob Ostreicher. 

I would like to now yield to my friend and colleague, Ms. Bass, 

for any opening comments. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you very much. Chairman Smith, I want to 

thank you for your leadership of this committee, and you continued 

efforts to elevate human issues that require greater attention by 

Congress and our Government. This hearing certainly fits the bill 

regarding the incarceration of Jacob Ostreicher, a U.S. citizen who 

for over 2 years has endured a nightmare that is both unfair and 

unjust. And I am sorry to say that we are here having this hearing 

again over so much time. 

A year ago this committee learned of Mr. Ostreicher’s case and 

held a hearing to elevate the deplorable injustice that he continues 

to endure in Bolivia. His wife, daughter, and members of his community sat in this very room and earnestly pleaded for justice and 

his safe and immediate release. His return to the United States 

would put an end to the traumatic events that have consumed him 

and his family for far too long. His return would also bring some 

4

sense of normalcy in their lives. This is not too much to ask or demand. 

I want to thank Mr. Penn for his willingness to travel here and 

to take action on this issue. I watched the press conference with 

you and Mr. Ostreicher, and your message was clear. Jacob’s 

human rights have been grossly violated, those within the Bolivia 

justice system and those on the fringe have been deeply involved 

in repeated cycles of abuse, justice, human rights violation, the infringement of one’s civil liberties, all of which have gravely impacted him, his family and, I would argue, the Bolivian people 

themselves. 

We define justice as the pursuit of fairness and a sense of reason. 

This situation boasts neither fairness or any basic understanding 

of reason. I urge the Bolivian Government to either put forward 

unequivocal evidence of any crime that he has committed or immediately release him to the U.S. and his family. 

As far as I am aware his assets have been stolen, his business 

lies in ruin, and he now shows the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which was visible on the video that I saw when you had the 

press conference with him. How much more can one person or family endure? 

I am please that my colleagues, Representative Nadler and Representative Vela ́zquez, are here to show their support and strong 

commitment. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have also shown 

their unwavering commitment to getting him home. They should be 

commended. There is clear bipartisan and bicameral support for 

Jacob’s release. As I said in my testimony a year ago, Jacob is not 

forgotten in the U.S. Congress and we continue to seek an immediate and final end to this terrible situation. 

Thank you, and I look forward to today’s hearing. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Ms. Bass. 

Ms. Vela ́zquez. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you, Chairman Smith, Ranking Member 

Bass, and members of subcommittee, for holding this important 

hearing and allowing me to participate. 

As many of you know, Jacob Ostreicher is an American citizen 

from Brooklyn, New York. He is currently being held by the Bolivian Government for alleged money laundering and ties to criminal 

organizations. As a congressional Representative for many of his 

family members in New York’s Seventh District and a fellow 

Brooklynite, I am extremely concerned about the Bolivian Government’s failure to provide adequate due process and human rights 

protection for this man. 

In fact, I visited Bolivia with Chairman Smith in December to 

meet with Mr. Ostreicher and discuss his detention directly with 

high level Bolivian Government officials. While he has been released from prison since our trip, he remains under house arrest 

with no foreseeable end to his ordeal. 

This man has already been detained without due process for the 

maximum 18 months allowed under Bolivian law; he should have 

been allowed to return to the U.S. in December. 

Yet the government has kept him in the country for an additional 5 months while conducting further investigations, despite 

the fact the prosecution has produced no evidence whatsoever to 

5

support such allegations. The Bolivian Government’s failure to follow its own law is unacceptable and he should be released straight 

away. 

In order to protect the due process and human rights of Americans in foreign custody like Mr. Ostreicher, I am an original cosponsor of Chairman Smith’s bill, H.R. 1778, the Justice for Imprisoned Americans Overseas Act, or ‘‘Jacob’s Law.’’ This important 

legislation would require the State Department to take action when 

a U.S. citizen’s human or due process rights are being violated 

while in custody of a foreign government. Moreover, the bill prohibits the provision of U.S. assistance to any foreign government 

that is responsible for the denial of due process and human rights 

of U.S. citizens in their custody. I look forward to this proposal 

coming to the House floor and having the opportunity to vote for 

it. 

However, due process and human rights are not the only entitlements we need to safeguard; we must also ensure our citizens have 

access to necessary medical services. That is why I am extremely 

concerned about the reports of Mr. Ostreicher’s deteriorating 

health and recent Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Bolivia should release him immediately so that he may return to the U.S. to obtain 

a comprehensive medical evaluation with his own doctors and, of 

course, be with his family. 

While I ultimately hope for his swift homecoming, I am still 

grateful for the small improvements in his situation. He is no 

longer incarcerated under the harsh conditions at Palmasola prison 

and is receiving some medical treatment in the interim. 

I would like to take this opportunity to commend Mr. Penn for 

the measures that he took last December to help him access desperately needed health services and secure bail. Mr. Penn, your 

presence there meant so much to him and, for that, I am really 

grateful. 

Due process is not only an important element of a transparent 

legal system, it is a human right. It is incumbent upon the U.S. 

Government to protect this right for all American citizens, whether 

at home or abroad. We must ensure that the Bolivian Government 

upholds its due process laws and return Mr. Ostreicher to the U.S. 

immediately. 

And I also would like to add, Mr. Chairman, how grateful I am 

for the role that the Bolivian press has played in covering this case, 

giving it the high profile that was much needed with the Bolivian 

society. 

And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Vela ́zquez, thank you very much. 

Mr. Nadler. 

Mr. NADLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to begin by 

thanking you and Ranking Member Bass for holding this hearing 

and for giving me the opportunity to participate although I am not 

a member of the committee. I also would like to thank Sean Penn 

for his advocacy on behalf of Mr. Ostreicher, which is helping 

bringing international attention to this issue in a way that we 

couldn’t otherwise. 

I am here today because my constituent Jacob Ostreicher remains in unlawful detention in Bolivia. Along with Mr. Ostreicher’s 

6

family, friends, and his community in Brooklyn, I am very concerned about his continued confinement and his welfare. 

As you know, on June 20, 2011, Mr. Ostreicher was arrested in 

Bolivia on allegations of money laundering and associating with 

criminal organizations. He was held in a notoriously dangerous 

Palmasola prison for 18 months, and though he was released from 

prison on bail in December of last year, he remains under house 

arrest. Now nearly 2 years after he was originally detained, formal 

charges have yet to be filed against him and Mr. Ostreicher continues to maintain his innocence. 

In addition, more than a dozen Bolivian officials, including prosecutors, judges and the chief legal counsel to the Bolivian Interior 

Ministry, have since been arrested in connection with corruption in 

this case, in effect for attempting to frame Mr. Ostreicher. This 

amounts to nothing less than a horrible injustice for Mr. 

Ostreicher, who is in poor health and has been forced to stay in Bolivia separated from his wife, five children and 11 grandchildren. 

This is a man whose life has been unfairly put on hold while justice is denied to him day after day. Especially after the people instrumental in accusing him have been accused of corruption by the 

Bolivian Government, it is unfathomable that he continues to be 

held. The Bolivian authorities must be made immediately aware 

that this now absurd miscarriage of justice is unacceptable and 

conveys a negative message about their country to the United 

States and to the world. 

In fact, earlier this year the United Nations High Commissioner 

of Human Rights issued a report specifically citing Mr. Ostreicher’s 

case as evidence of endemic corruption within the Bolivian justice 

system, indicating that Mr. Ostreicher’s treatment constitutes a serious human rights abuse. Specifically in reference to Mr. 

Ostreicher’s case, the U.N. report states, ‘‘The existence of an extortion ring within the judiciary constitutes a serious threat to the 

credibility of the administration of justice.’’

The Bolivian Government must take immediate action to grant 

Jacob Ostreicher the due process he deserves and show to the 

world that this sort of injustice will not continue. 

Since he was first imprisoned I have been in frequent contact 

with the State Department about the status of Mr. Ostreicher’s 

case and his condition. I want to thank the State Department for 

its work thus far in communicating with the Bolivian Government 

regarding Mr. Ostreicher’s situation and to express his frustration 

and that of our entire Government regarding his treatment. That 

work must continue until we see positive results. 

In December of last year, after meeting with Mr. Ostreicher’s 

wife, Miriam, I wrote a letter to Secretary of State Clinton asking 

for help communicating to the Bolivian Government the necessity 

of giving Mr. Ostreicher reasonable access to a swift trial. I also 

wrote a letter along with my colleagues in the House and Senate 

to the Bolivian Government making the same request. I understand that Bolivian law has its own standards that allow a prisoner to be held for 18 months on preliminary charges in the pretrial phase if there is a reasonable basis to believe that he or she 

committed a crime. That 18 months has long passed and they have 

shown no reasonable basis for believing that a crime was comVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
7

mitted by Mr. Ostreicher. While I am glad that a Bolivian judge 

allowed Mr. Ostreicher to be detained at home rather than in prison, at home in Bolivia that is, holding someone for 2 years without 

a trial violates basic standards of fairness and human rights. Mr. 

Ostreicher is entitled to a fair trial like anyone else, to see the evidence against him, to have the opportunity to present evidence in 

his own behalf and to have that case heard promptly and impartially. If prosecutors do not have the necessary evidence already at 

hand, they should dismiss the case immediately and let him return 

to his family in New York. 

Our job will not be done until Mr. Ostreicher has been afforded 

a full measure of the simple justice to which everyone is entitled. 

We need everyone, Members of Congress, officials in the executive 

branch and other interested parties, to keep up the pressure on the 

Bolivian Government. It is important for everyone to remember our 

goal, to make sure Mr. Ostreicher is provided fair treatment and 

basic due process. 

The Bolivians must be made to understand that we will not 

stand idly by and simply accept the treatment that he has received 

to date. Pressure must continue to be applied to the Bolivian Government and its justice system to get Mr. Ostreicher and his family 

out of the terrible limbo they are in, either by finally giving him 

the trial he deserves or by dropping the charges and releasing him 

forthwith. 

I hope this hearing will serve to do just that, to keep the pressure on the Bolivian Government and to demonstrate how important Mr. Ostreicher and his situation are. It is important to U.S. 

Government officials and to the United States Government as a 

whole. 

With that, I thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Nadler, thank you very much. 

It is now an honor and privilege to welcome to the committee and 

introduce to the committee Sean Penn. 

In January 2010, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the 

nation of Haiti, Mr. Sean Penn established the J/P Haitian Relief 

Organization. Today, Mr. Penn directs a predominantly Haitian 

staff of nearly 400 development professionals to support the residents of the camps of J/P HRO and surrounding areas as they transition from life left homeless by the earthquake to durable, sustainable, and prosperous communities. This is done through foreign integrated programs, medical camp and relocation management, engineering and construction, and community development. J/P HRO 

is dedicated to saving lives and bringing sustainable programs to 

the Haitian people quickly and effectively. I know Mr. Penn will be 

traveling to Haiti from here. He is joined today by Ben Krause, 

Chief of Staff for the organization. Welcome, Ben, as well, to the 

committee. 

For his efforts, Mr. Penn has received numerous awards and 

honors. He was named Ambassador-at-Large for Haiti and presented with this honor by the President at a ceremony in Port-auPrince in 2012. More recently, Mr. Penn was presented with the 

2012 Peace Summit Award at the 12th World Summit of Noble 

Peace Laureates, a tribute for extraordinary solidarity by the Haitian Parliament in a combined meeting of the National Assembly. 

8

There is a long list of impressive awards and recognitions from the 

U.S. Army, international humanitarian organizations, and others 

that have flowed to him for his work. 

In addition to humanitarian work Mr. Penn, as we all know, has 

become an American film icon in a career spanning nearly three 

decades. Mr. Penn has received two Academy Awards and five 

Academy Award nominations for Best Actor. He is also a successful 

screenwriter, director, producer, journalist and, as we all are very 

grateful, a great friend of Jacob Ostreicher. 

Mr. Penn. 

STATEMENT OF MR. SEAN PENN, FOUNDER AND CHIEF 

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, J/P HAITIAN RELIEF ORGANIZATION 

Mr. PENN. Chairman Smith, distinguished members of the committee, I sincerely appreciate your efforts and support of U.S. citizen Jacob Ostreicher and his family, and thank you for allowing 

me the opportunity to come before you and share my experience regarding Mr. Ostreicher and the increasing urgency of his situation. 

In 2012, I traveled three times to Bolivia, first in February on 

behalf of the Republic of Haiti in my role as Ambassador-at-Large. 

There I met with President Morales and I found him a man sincerely dedicated to his people and their economic and social development. It may be instructive to anecdotally recall for you the topics that dominated his part of our conversation. 

Number one, the issue of Bolivia’s sea rights over ancestral Bolivian lands commandeered by a past Chilean Government 150 

years ago. 

Number two, despite a standing extradition treaty with the 

United States, the U.S. has steadfastly refused to recognize the 

treaty as it might require the return of Bolivia’s former President, 

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who is charged with genocide and currently in asylum in the United States, as well as Bolivia’s former 

drug czar, General Rene Sanabria, who is currently held in the 

United States. 

I believe this second point is key to understanding Bolivian skepticism toward any outreach for respect of rule of law or human 

rights in the case of American Jacob Ostreicher. 

Number three, and perhaps the most instructive, the Bolivian 

campaign to educate those outside the region on the cultural and 

economic value of their dominant coca crop. 

I will not sit here today as an advocate for any of these three primary concerns though, I will briefly quote from a blog piece I published shortly after that trip:

‘‘While indeed coca leaf is the base material for the production 

of cocaine, it resembles cocaine only so much as does the fertilizer so accessible and profitable in the United States, so necessary for our own farming community and its regrettable relativity as the base material for explosives.’’

Bolivia’s campaign seeking markets for export for the multiple 

benign uses of coca leaf reads, ‘‘Coca no es cocaina.’’ The economic 

impact on Bolivia of this largely puritanical misconception is tremendous and translates to human hardship that is palpable in that 

country. Further, it inflames the uninformed perceptions that conVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
9

nect Bolivia’s leadership with the criminal narcotrafficking that Bolivia itself is so dedicated it to abate. 

Since this indigenous President assumed office in 2006 and while 

the United Nations General Assembly designated President Morales World Hero of Mother Earth in 2010, internal Bolivian opposition media, political, and economic powers have continuously exploited our own internal propaganda, leveraging the false perception of drug lordship and totalitarianism against this elected leader 

of this democratic socialist country. 

As a result, the U.S. media has ignored the rest of the story in 

Bolivia, including the tremendous reforms that have been enacted 

under President Morales’ leadership, including a new Constitution 

embracing human rights at its core. 

Furthermore, even the case of Mr. Ostreicher garners a paucity 

of attention. An article just last week on CNN.com listing Americans unjustly held overseas failed to make mention of Mr. 

Ostreicher’s case in spite of this subcommittee’s repeated efforts to 

bring the injustice to national attention and peaceful resolution. 

My second trip to Bolivia in October 2012 resulted from a call 

from a colleague who had been contacted on behalf of the imprisoned American, Jacob Ostreicher. Based on my brief history with 

President Morales, I was asked to review the Ostreicher case, and 

having done so to my absolute satisfaction in his innocence, bring 

the case to President Morales. 

I began by reviewing the report of former FBI investigator Steve 

Moore, consulting with Mr. Ostreicher’s Bolivian attorneys as well 

as his Washington based law firm representing he and his family 

pro bono, and discussing the matter with Mr. Ostreicher’s wife, 

Miriam Ungar. All of these people have provided testimonies to 

this subcommittee before, and I would strongly encourage all of the 

new members to review the testimonies provided on June 6th and 

on August 1, 2012, so as to better inform yourselves to the injustice 

of Mr. Ostreicher’s situation. 

I continued my investigation discussing the matters with members of the United States’ State Department and made inquiries to 

my Venezuelan and Bolivian colleagues. 

Finally, I thoroughly reviewed the situation on the ground myself 

in Bolivia. Following all of this, I was not only personally and thoroughly convinced of Mr. Ostreicher’s innocence, but particularly 

alarmed by a consensus both among Bolivian officials as well as 

international sources that the unevidenced prosecution of Jacob 

Ostreicher was SOP, standard operating procedure, in the fundamentally corrupt Bolivian judiciary. 

At that point I requested a second meeting with President Morales. In that meeting in La Paz I was able to share with the President the materials that had been provided me as well as additional 

information I had garnered from multiple sources. 

I will subject my intuition to your judgment. I was convinced 

then and I remain convinced today that these findings were received by the President with tremendous personal and human 

grief, that the President had indeed inherited a judiciary that at 

once was populated by brave and ethical servants of the Bolivian 

people and the rule of law but that within it a mafia-proportioned 

criminal network referred to as ‘‘la Red’’ in Bolivia maintains a 

10

devastating grip on power, extortion, narcotrafficking, and human 

cruelty. 

I was not educating a President, but I was witnessing one who 

like any President faces the multifaceted challenges of governance. 

This President was being asked by an American friend to put laser 

attention on a single case, but one that he knew, and that I would 

come to know, reflected the challenge and gravitas of the situation 

at large for the Bolivian Government and its people in respect to 

their judiciary. 

President Morales in my presence immediately called his Minister of Government, who without hesitation referred to the case of 

Mr. Ostreicher, and I quote, as ‘‘A bad case.’’

Following that meeting, the Bolivian Government ordered by 

President Morales gave new empowerment to the investigatory 

body, the judiciary, which resulted in the arrests and 

imprisonments of over 20 Bolivian officials, including Fernando Rivera, a primary representative of the Ministry of Government in 

the prosecution of Mr. Ostreicher. 

What had been exposed was an unprecedented ring of extortion. 

Indeed, Mr. Ostreicher’s only ‘‘crime’’ was to have brought a successful rice concession and well-paying jobs to poor Bolivians. 

Upon the criminal actions of the judiciary, the rice and heavy 

equipment was commandeered and sold for personal profit and jobs 

for poor Bolivians evaporated. 

While the principle investor in Mr. Ostreicher’s business venture, 

Swiss businessman Andre Zolty, was determined to be conducting 

legitimate and transparent business practices through an investigation by Interpol, and while Mr. Ostreicher had been able to account for every penny, demonstrate that all funds had legally and 

with full transparency been channeled through the Bolivian Central Bank, and that all funds had subsequently been invested legally and with the same transparency, it was Mr. Ostreicher who 

was carted off to a prison in Santa Cruz called Palmasola. 

Palmasola prison is described as a ‘‘modern day Dante’s Inferno.’’ 

It has 4,500 inmates and they themselves run it. The corrections 

officers are limited to perimeter patrol and roll checks. It is a prison that receives the delivery of body bags to the front gate on a 

weekly basis and feeds its prisoners 18 cents worth of mulchy broth 

twice daily through a trough. Disease, violence, and humiliation. 

In this prison Mr. Ostreicher lost 55 pounds, a full third of his 

body weight, and suffered the onset of Parkinson’s disease and was 

subject to tremendous physical violence by guards and fellow inmates. 

In addition to enabling the arrests of ‘‘la Red’’ extortion network, 

President Morales also ordered an emergency medical examination 

for Mr. Ostreicher. I flew to Santa Cruz where I met with Minister 

of Government Carlos Romero and his Vice Minister Jorge Peres. 

With the support of President Morales and the assistance of Mr. 

Ostreicher’s Bolivian attorneys, Minister Romero and Vice Minister 

Peres were able to expedite the doctor’s examination. 

We went to Palmasola at 1 o’clock a.m. that same night and 

stood witness as the Bolivian state appointed doctor made the determination that Mr. Ostreicher was at life risk and signed the paVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
11

pers ordering that he be transported to a private medical clinic for 

immediate and continuing treatment. 

On my third visit to La Paz in December 2012 I was scheduled 

to meet with President Morales and Vice President Linera in advance of Jacob’s hearing the following day. At the diplomatic home 

of Venezuelan Ambassador to Bolivia, Cris Gonzalez, we were informed that the meeting would no longer be necessary as Mr. 

Ostreicher’s hearing in Santa Cruz the following morning was assumed to be that which would secure his release and exoneration. 

We were flown by military transport that evening to Santa Cruz. 

The following morning at the courthouse we were brought to a 

waiting room where despite our optimism Mr. Ostreicher, who was 

then in a minimally improved physical state, wearing the required 

body armor that acknowledged the Bolivian state’s own concern for 

his safety in light of the criminal elements within their own judiciary, constrained by his own disability to a wheelchair, with hands 

shaking from Parkinson’s disease, nonetheless had clarity of mind 

that our optimism had stolen from us. 

As we prepared for the arrival of the judge and the hearing to 

take place, I imparted to him based on what I had been told in La 

Paz that he would very soon be seeing his wife, his five children 

and his 11 grandchildren, from whom he had been significantly 

parted for 2 years. He said to me, ‘‘It won’t happen, Sean, these, 

expletives, want to kill me. I am too dangerous to them as a witness.’’

At that point we were notified that the judge would soon enter 

the court, and I assisted Mr. Ostreicher in his wheelchair into the 

courtroom. 

As an actor I have been in good movies and I have been in bad 

movies. I have never seen a worse movie or more arch villainy on 

such a caricature-ish and humanly diabolical level as I witnessed 

in that courtroom. 

Despite the clear and unequivocal arguments of innocence and, 

more importantly, evidence of innocence brought by Mr. 

Ostreicher’s Bolivian defense team, the judge, under the clear intimidation of a panel of snickering, arrogant and hateful prosecutors, would have none of either logic or law. 

With Mr. Ostreicher still too frail to be touched without tremendous pain through his bones, contact with his then-paper-thin skin 

and the Parkinson’s, mixed with a heightened stress anxiety creating intense shaking, the prosecution dared even to challenge the 

Bolivian state doctor’s medical diagnosis and claimed that Mr. 

Ostreicher was perfectly healthy and pushed for him to be returned 

to the death-factory of Palmasola prison. 

What followed was a very challenging negotiation to keep Mr. 

Ostreicher in the clinic so as to keep him from being returned to 

Palmasola prison and where we stand today through the diligent 

work of both his Bolivian and American attorneys and the dedicated support of this committee, and of Governor Bill Richardson, 

and indeed the cautious support of President Morales and his Venezuelan counterparts, Mr. Ostreicher is remanded to house arrest. 

While his weight and mobility have returned to something close to 

normal, the Parkinson’s, quite likely triggered by the stress in his 

12

time in Palmasola prison, remains a debilitating concern, and he 

is in daily fear for his life, further exacerbating his Parkinson’s. 

It is high time Mr. Ostreicher elderly parents, wife, children, and 

grandchildren receive him back in the United States to move on 

with their lives. 

This tragic scenario is not Bolivia. It is not the Bolivian people. 

It is not the Bolivian President. What it is, is an example of the 

continuing of the Bolivia’s 100 years of struggle and its fight for 

human rights and its revolution for freedom. In that revolution, Bolivians have demonstrated an extraordinary courage and will for 

sacrifice. It is on that basis and in solidarity with President Morales and the Bolivian people that I offer the following: Last week 

registration opened for the Dakar Rally. As the off-road driving enthusiasts among us know, the Dakar Rally is one of the premier 

rally raid cross-country driving competitions in the world. Started 

more than 30 years ago as a race from Paris, France, along the Sahara to the desert in Dakar, Senegal, together hundreds of competitors in the motorcycle, car, and truck classes to compete in a 

2-week race covering thousands of miles of the world’s roughest 

terrain. For host countries the Dakar rally brings hundreds of 

thousands of dollars in charitable donations, millions of spectators 

and tourists, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, 

and billions of viewers from 190 countries through global broadcasting. While the net impact of the rally is at times controversial, 

many have shared sentiments like the Government of Peru, which 

declared the rally ‘‘a national interest,’’ and the Argentine Minister 

of Tourism, who called the rally ‘‘the biggest promotional tool for 

tourism in Argentina’s history.’’

For the past 4 years the Dakar Rally has been racing through 

South America and in January 2014, for the first time ever, part 

of the race is scheduled to traverse southern Bolivia, making Bolivia the 28th host country in the rally’s history. In fact, just last 

month rally organizers competed in a dress rehearsal across Bolivia’s famous salt flats. The Dakar Rally, one of the world’s most 

prominent displays of freedom and tenacity of the human spirit, 

will be parading through Bolivia even as thousands of prisoners 

like Mr. Ostreicher sit in feces filled cells, forgotten, behind locked 

walls, and surrounded by the sort of inhuman savagery we only 

dream is possible in existential nightmares. The Dakar Rally is 

scheduled to celebrate the triumphs of the human spirit and innovation on the same soil where the Bolivian justice system festers 

and loots the same from its innocent and uncharged victims. 

The Economist has reported that ‘‘at least two-thirds of the prison population in Bolivia is on remand awaiting trial.’’ Awaiting 

trial. 

So I ask you, the distinguished members of this committee, join 

me in calling on the sponsors of the Dakar Rally to bring their influence to bear for the thousands of innocent victims of the Bolivian justice system and especially for Jacob Ostreicher. 

Starting with the official partner of the Dakar Rally, the petrochemical giant Total, and then moving to each of the official partners: Michelin, Honda, Mitsubishi Motors, Red Bull, EDOX, 

Karcher, Aggreko, and even the official race photographer Maindru 

Photo, I ask that you use your influence to call on these sponsors 

13

to insist that their support for the Dakar Rally will either require 

Mr. Ostreicher is finally freed to return to the United States and, 

as Mr. Nadler mentioned, the 18 months allowed by the Bolivian 

Constitution to be held without charge has already passed and so 

there should be no discussion that could give opening to too late 

offers of an expedited trial, freed as a first sign of goodwill and the 

intention on the part of the Bolivian Government and the ethical 

within its judicial institutions as they continue the long and difficult process of justice and reform or the Dakar Rally with not 

enter Bolivia. 

I am confident the good people in these companies do not want 

to support the perpetual imprisonment of innocents and will recognize the necessity of principled withdrawal should the Government 

of Bolivia fail to act. But they should do this for practical reasons, 

too. Imagine the tragedy of one of their own people or one of the 

tourists following the rally while it passes through Bolivia were to 

become victims like Jacob and land behind bars without charges, 

without evidence against them and without rights. 

As 2014 will be the first time that the rally ventures into Bolivia, 

this first test run will only consist of one stage of the motorcycle 

class venturing across the Bolivian salt flats. This is to say that if 

the Bolivian justice system continues to deny Mr. Ostreicher the 

freedom that they themselves have indicated he is due, since they 

have not brought any legitimate charges against him, it is still possible for the Dakar Rally to exclude Bolivia. 

The international pressure could very well be precisely what the 

President of Bolivia needs to be able to finally expel the malignant 

cancer of corruption that is killing both of the Bolivian justice system and the thousands of innocent people like Mr. Ostreicher. Putting a clear cost for the continued abuse of the justice system on 

the economic elites of the country may well give President Morales 

and the people of Bolivia the leverage needed to advance their heroic fight for freedom and justice in Bolovia to the next level. 

So again, I ask that you all join me in calling on the sponsors 

of the Dakar Rally, Total, Michelin, Honda, Mitsubishi Motors, Red 

Bull, EDOX, Karcher, Aggreko and Maindru Photo, to demand Jacob’s freedom as a condition of their support for the Dakar Rally 

in Bolivia. 

A last thought came from a telephone call that I had with a 

friend, a friend of high rank in the United States military. After 

spending most of his military career in South America and the Caribbean, he was later deployed to a post in South Asia, and after 

several months of deployment we spoke. He said that he had always considered the challenges of Caribbean and Latin America 

nearly insurmountable until experiencing his new position focused 

on South Asia and the Middle East. His realization of how much 

commonality the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean 

share he said, ‘‘Should make this butter.’’ It is my hope that Bolivia 

and the United States will take the lead in a new era of diplomacy 

and human rights for that which is our shared human interest, 

that Cuba will follow with the release of Alan Gross, and that the 

United States will refocus its diplomatic consideration on the 

Cuban Five without regard for fundamentalist opposition within 

political constituencies. Bolivia has a rare opportunity to trigger 

14

the movement of a new day where the discussion of human rights 

is a discussion without borders. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Penn follows:]


81165a-1.eps
15


81165a-2.eps

Bolivia's campaign seeking markets for export for the multiple benign uses of coca 

leaf reads "Coca no es cocaina" and the economic impact on Bolivia of this 

puritanical misperception is tremendous and translates to human hardship that is 

palpable in that country. Further it inflames the uninformed perceptions that 

connect Bolivia's leadership with the criminal narcotrafficking that Bolivia itself is 

so dedicated to abate. 

Since this indigenous President assumed office in 2006, and while the United 

Nations General Assembly designated President Morales "World Hero of Mother 

Earth" in 2010, internal opposition media, political and economic powers have 

continuously exploited our own internal propaganda, leveraging the false 

perception of drug-lord-ship and totalitarianism against this elected leader of this 

democratic socialist country. 

My second trip to Bolivia in October of 2012 resulted from the call of a colleague 

who had been contacted on behalf of the imprisoned American, Jacob Ostreicher. 

Based on my brief history with President Morales, I was asked to review the 

Ostreicher case, and having done so to my satisfaction in his innocence, bring the 

case to President Morales. 

I began by reviewing the report of former FBI Investigator Steve Moore, consulting 

with Mr. Ostreicher's Bolivian attorneys as well as the Washington-based law firm 

representing he and his family pro-bono and discussing the matter with Mr. 

Ostreicher's wife, Miriam Ungar. All ofthese people have provided testimonies to 

this Subcommittee before, and I would STRONGLY encourage all ofthe new 

members to review the testimonies provided on June 6 and August 1, 2012 so to 

better inform yourselves to the injustice of Mr. Ostreicher's situation. 

I continued my investigation discussing the matter with members of the US State 

department and made inquiries to my Venezuelan and Bolivian colleagues. Finally, I 

thoroughly reviewed the situation on the ground myself in Bolivia. 

Following all of this, I was not only personally and thoroughly convinced of Mr. 

Ostreicher's innocence, but particularly alarmed by a consensus both among 

Bolivian officials as well as international sources that the un-evidenced prosecution 

against Jacob Ostreicher was Standard Operating Procedure in the fundamentally 

corrupt Bolivian Judiciary. 

At that point, I requested a second meeting with President Morales. In that meeting 

in La Paz, I was able to share with the President the materials that had been 

provided to me as well as additional information that I had garnered from multiple 

sources. 

I will subject my intuition to your judgment. I was convinced then, and am 

convinced today that these findings were received by the President with 

tremendous personal and human grief - that the President had indeed inherited a 

2 
16


81165a-3.eps

judiciary that at once is populated by brave and ethical servants ofthe Bolivian 

people and the rule of law but that within it a mafia-proportioned criminal network 

referred to as "Ia Red" in Bolivia maintains a devastating grip on power, extortion, 

narcotrafficking and human cruelty. 

I was not educating a President, but I was witnessing one who like any President 

faces the multi-faceted challenge of governance. This President was being asked by 

an American friend to put laser attention on a single case, but one that he knew, and 

that I would come to know, reflected the challenge at large for the Bolivian 

Government in respect to their judiciary. 

President Morales, in my presence, immediately called his Minister of Government 

who without hesitation referred to the case of Mr. Ostreicher as "a bad case." 

Following that meeting, the Bolivian Government, ordered by President Morales, 

gave new empowerment to the investigatory body of the judiciary which resulted in 

arrests and imprisonments of over 14 Bolivian officials including Fernando Rivera, 

representative of the Ministry of Government in the prosecution of Mr. Ostreicher. 

What had been exposed was an unprecedented ring of extortion. 

Indeed Mr. Ostreicher's only "crime" was to have brought a successful rice 

concession and well-paying jobs to Bolivia. Upon the criminal actions ofthe 

judiciary, the rice was commandeered and sold for personal profit and the jobs 

evaporated. 

While the principle investor of Mr. Ostreicher's business venture, Swiss 

businessman Andre Zolty, was determined to be conducting legitimate and 

transparent business practices through an investigation by Interpol, and while Mr. 

Ostreicher had been able to account for every penny, demonstrate that all funds had 

legally and with full transparency channeled through the Bolivian Central Bank and 

that all funds had subsequently been invested legally and with the same 

transparency, it was Mr. Ostreicher who was carted offto a prison in Santa Cruz 

called Palmasola. 

Palmasola prison is described as a "modern-day Dante's Inferno". 4,500 inmates in 

a prison that they themselves run with the corrections officers limited to perimeter 

patrol. A prison that receives a delivery of body bags to the front gate on a weekly 

basis and feeds its prisoners IS-cents-worth of a mulchy broth twice daily from a 

trough. Disease. Violence. Humiliation. 

In this prison, Mr. Ostreicher lost 551bs, a full third of his weight, and suffered the 

onset of Parkinson's disease. 

In addition to enabling the arrests of "La Red" extortion network, President Morales 

also ordered an emergency medical examination for Mr. Ostreicher. I flew to Santa 

3 
17


81165a-4.eps

Cruz, Bolivia where I met with Minister of Government Carlos Ramiro and his vice 

minister, Jorge Peres. With the support of President Morales and the assistance of 

Mr. Ostreicher's Bolivian attorneys, Minister Morales and Vice Minister Peres were 

able to expedite the doctor's examination. 

We went together to Palmasola at 1 am that same night and stood witness as the 

Bolivian state-appointed doctor made the determination that Mr. Ostreicher was at 

life risk and signed papers ordering that he be transported to a private medical 

clinic for treatment. 

On my third visit to Bolivia in 2012, I was scheduled to meet with President Morales 

and Vice President Linera. At the diplomatic home of Venezuelan Ambassador to 

Bolivia, Cris Gonzalez in La Paz, we were informed that that meeting would no 

longer be necessary as Mr. Ostreicher's hearing in Santa Cruz the following morning 

was assumed to be that which would secure his release and exoneration. 

We were flown by military transport that evening to Santa Cruz. The following 

morning at the courthouse, we were brought to a waiting room where despite our 

optimism, Mr. Ostreicher who was then in a minimally-improved physical state, 

wearing a required body armor (that acknowledged the Bolivian State's own 

concern for his safety in light ofthe criminal elements within their own judiciary), 

constrained by his own disability to a wheelchair with hands shaking from 

Parkinson's Disease, nonetheless had a clarity of mind that our optimism had stolen 

from us. As we prepared for the arrival ofthe judge and the hearing to take place, I 

imparted to him based on what I had been told in La Paz that he would very soon be 

seeing his wife, his five children and 11 grandchildren that he had been significantly 

parted from for two years. 

He said to me, "It won't happen, Sean. These [expletive omitted] want to kill me. I'm 

too dangerous to them as a witness." 

At that point we were notified that the judge would soon enter the court, and I 

pushed Mr. Ostreicher in his wheelchair into the courtroom. 

As an actor, I have been in good movies and bad ones. I have never seen a worse 

movie, nor more arch-villainy on such a caricature-ish or humanly diabolical level as 

I witnessed in that court room. 

Despite the clear and unequivocal arguments of innocence and more importantly, 

evidence of innocence, brought by Mr. Ostreicher's Bolivian defense team, the judge, 

under the clear intimidation of a panel of snickering, arrogant and hateful 

prosecutors would have none oflogic nor law. 

With Mr. Ostreicher still too frail to be touched without bone contact through his 

then-paper-thin skin, and the Parkinson's mixed with a heightened stress-anxiety 

creating intense shaking, the prosecution dared even to challenge the Bolivian State 

4 
18


81165a-5.eps

doctor's medical diagnosis and claim that Mr. Ostreicher was perfectly healthy and 

pushed for him to be returned to the death-factory of Palmasola Prison. 

What followed was a very challenging fight to keep Mr. Ostreicher in the clinic so to 

keep him from being returned to Palmasola prison. 

Where we stand today, through the diligent work of both his Bolivian and American 

attorneys, and indeed the cautious support of President Morales and Venezuelan 

counterparts, Mr. Ostreicher is remanded to house arrest. While his weight and 

mobility have returned to something close to normal, the Parkinson's quite likely 

triggered by the stress of his time in Palmasola prison remains a debilitating 

concern and he is in daily fear for his life - further exacerbating his Parkinson's. 

It is high-time Mr. Ostreicher's elderly parents, wife, children and grandchildren 

receive him back in the United States to move on with their lives. 

This tragic scenario is NOT Bolivia. It is NOT the Bolivian people. It is NOT the 

Bolivian President. What it is, is an example of the continuing of Bolivia's hundred 

years struggle in its fight for human rights and its revolution for freedom. In that 

revolution, Bolivians have demonstrated an extraordinary courage and will for 

sacrifice. 

It is on that basis, and in solidarity with President Morales and the Bolivian people, 

that I sincerely request that all ofthe distinguished members ofthis committee use 

every peaceful means necessary to persuade the Bolivian Judiciary to finally release 

Mr. Ostreicher to return to the United States and to his family. As the 18 months 

allowed by the Bolivian Constitution to be held without charge have already passed 

there should be NO discussion that could give an opening for too-late offers of 

expedited trial. No, Mr. Ostreicher should be freed immediately to return to the 

United States. 

This international pressure could very well be precisely what the President of 

Bolivia needs to be able to finally expel the malignant cancer of corruption that is 

killing both the Bolivian Justice System and thousands of innocent people like Mr. 

Ostreicher. By calling attention to the injustice of Mr. Ostreicher's case and by using 

all peaceful means to pressure for Jacob Ostreicher's freedom, we may well be giving 

President Morales and the people of Bolivia the leverage needed to advance their 

heroic fight for freedom and justice in Bolivia to the next level - and in doing so, we 

can safely return our too-long-abandoned fellow American, Jacob Ostreicher, to his 

loving family. 

Thank you. 

5 
19

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Penn, thank you very much for that extraordinarily eloquent but also very bold statement. Not only did you lay 

out all the very real and tangible efforts that you have made and 

others have made encouraging, asking, petitioning, but now I believe you have given a means to a very positive outcome with the 

Dakar Rally recommendation. I can tell you that we will circulate 

a letter, pursuant to your recommendation, to the sponsors and ask 

that they again not allow this very important rally, this great economic boom, to occur in Bolivia until Jacob is freed. So I think this 

could be a game changer, it ought to be. Persuasion has, for almost 

2 years, not worked. So I think you bring to the table an enormous 

next step, and for that I believe all of us are very grateful for that 

recommendation. 

Mr. PENN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SMITH. It does underscore another issue; how any non-Bolivian, and even a Bolivian business investor could have any confidence that doing business in Bolivia might not make them the 

next Jacob Ostreicher. It is a very real threat to them, and so I 

think you have laid out a course of action that we will follow up 

on and I do thank you for that. Without leverage, you know, jaw 

boning and recommendations, even friendships only go so far, so 

thank you for that. If you wanted to elaborate any further on the 

idea, but we will circulate a letter. It will be bipartisan, I know 

that. And I think that will be very effective to at least get us on 

record. 

Mr. PENN. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Let me just ask you, you talk about the judicial system and I am glad you bring a very, very sharp focus there. In my 

first press conference with the Bolivian press last June, I had 

known of so many other cases that were just like Jacob’s but nonAmerican, and said that look at Jacob as a means to an end of getting the judicial system up to world class standards, international 

standards of fundamental human rights, due process rights, and as 

you said, la Red, this nefarious organization, this network continues to not only hurt Jacob but it hurts Bolivian people, and one 

of the points I made to the Bolivian press is that we stand in solidarity with the press in Bolivia just as we did with Jacob. And so 

join us in trying to push for reform, and I think your point was 

very well taken on that as well. 

No one should be behind bars ever anywhere who is innocent. We 

are not having any hearings about Americans who are committing 

crimes. We are having hearings and promoting innocent Americans, or anyone else for that matter, who are being prosecuted unjustly. So I take your point on that one as well. 

Just one question and any comment that you might want to 

make. We have tried to the get the United Nations to do more, 

along with other organizations. We know that Denis Racicot is 

there. I have met with him, Nydia Vela ́zquez and I have met with 

him. But we know the U.N. itself is under pressure and runs a risk 

and has a certain fear that its own personnel might be retaliated 

against. But it seems to me that in New York the Human Rights 

Council ought to be taking up Jacob’s case and the U.S. should be 

promoting that as well. Because when other levers don’t work 

international organizations certainly provide a potential remedy. 

20

So if you wanted to speak to that. 

Mr. PENN. Well, I think that there are several institutions and 

government organizations who may be able to contribute their good 

offices and influence there. Bolivia is a very poor country, as we 

know, and it does demand an enormous amount of economic support in various sectors. So I think that there is that. At the same 

time I came to this hearing today a little ambivalent simply because there is such a perspective shift culturally that when they 

are challenged, especially by either citizens or government officials 

in the United States, there is an inclination towards, let’s say, to 

this level of self-destructive defiance in the kind of populism that 

is typical of the region. Leaderships often have to appeal on the 

basis of that defiance toward the United States. And I think that 

again, you know, that in looking forward on these kinds of negotiations in the future this is really a time as we become increasingly 

global I think it makes a lot of sense for us to adjust our view related to our own human rights abuses in this country, and also 

within any kind of the black and white hold-ons that maintain 

small, small groups dictating the policy at large that affects the 

perception of the United States worldwide. 

There are compromises to be made. I brought up the Cuban Five. 

Clearly there are some in the Cuban Five who are seemingly guilty 

of higher offenses than others. But these are the kinds of diplomatic things that we really need to start working toward a fresh 

start with, so that we don’t have a defiant leadership in these 

countries the next time something happens. 

And that would I think further empower the State Department 

to take a more active role. At this point I think it is fair to say that 

despite criticism the State Department has had, even in the case 

of Mr. Ostreicher, my experience there is that they have been very 

diligent and yet very cautious and rightly so because their public 

position taken against this government is that which quickly can 

inflame the situation rather than diffuse it. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Bass. Thank you. 

Ms. BASS. Once again, Mr. Penn, thank you very much for your 

testimony. I particularly appreciated your testimony providing a 

context and especially a historical context in terms of our relationship with Bolivia, the sensitivity of that, the new leadership in the 

country, and also the precarious position that the President finds 

himself in. So I wanted to ask you a couple of questions along those 

lines. 

One, in terms of if you believe the U.S.-Bolivian relationship partially contributed to Mr. Ostreicher’s imprisonment? 

And then your call for us to do a letter, I was speaking with 

Chairman Smith and said I am more then willing to sign on to a 

letter, and maybe that letter actually calls for the companies you 

talked about to withdraw their involvement unless he is released. 

On the other hand, the flip side of that is what were you just talking about. I am happy to do that if you think it would be helpful. 

On the other hand I would just be a little concerned that that could 

inflame things or even perhaps compromise President Morales. You 

described him as being genuinely concerned about the situation, 

and so that begs the question of why couldn’t he just order the reVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
21

lease. And so is the reason because he is in part receiving the pressure from la Red, is that what you referred to them as? 

Mr. PENN. Yes. Well, this would be the—you are referring to the 

criminal network within the judiciary, yes. 

Ms. BASS. Right. So I guess I am asking if you do think that’s 

a good idea to ask for it to be that strong, to withdraw their involvement, which could certainly compromise the economic benefit 

to the country. Would that be helpful or would that be a contributing factor to inflaming? 

Mr. PENN. I think as with anything there is a threshold, and it 

is my opinion that the threshold has been crossed in terms of the 

incarceration of Jacob Ostreicher. Not only to the deficit of Mr. 

Ostreicher but to the Bolivian people and to the future of the institution of judicial process. I think that what I was insinuating was 

not so much that President Morales was cautious related to the reaction or the influence of la Red, but in particular that in the same 

way that leadership throughout the world are vulnerable to opposition media, the media is a rabid dog there, and they are largely 

run by opposition forces and influenced by opposition forces to this 

democratically elected leader of his people. 

So I by no means am suggesting a lack of courage; in fact, quite 

the contrary, but in terms of political strategy, he is caught between a rock and a hard place, is my perception of this. And also 

those ministers, those good ministers within the judiciary, in that 

as soon as they stand up and say, you know, they believe that 

Jacob Ostreicher should be released or he is innocent of these 

charges or, in fact, as is the case there is no evidence whatsoever 

against Mr. Ostreicher, it starts to be rumored that they are representatives of narcotrafficking. 

So it is that internal struggle that is never going to be broken 

until the strategy is based on principle. And the simple principle 

here is that if there is going to be an enormous amount of money 

generated in a country that is doing this, a country where human 

rights is the low-hanging fruit of the yearning of the actual leadership and the people, well, then, in fact, they are inviting such solidarity, as I read it. That these companies do just that, and make 

the decision with the very clear thought that it is simply wrong to 

continue to support it. 

Ms. BASS. Sure. Because there are different questions, degrees. 

We call on them to speak out or we can call on them——

Mr. PENN. Yes. And we are not asking that they suddenly revolutionize the judiciary. We have a difficult time doing that here——

Ms. BASS. Thank you. 

Mr. PENN [continuing]. Or our school systems. We know that it 

is difficult. Governance is difficult. What we are saying is show the 

first step. Here is the easiest case you have. The man is clearly innocent. Even your officials within the judiciary acknowledge that. 

As I said, this is ‘‘a bad case.’’ That is what he meant: ‘‘We have 

no case. We are just holding him.’’ Release him now. 

Ms. BASS. You know, I also wanted to ask you, while you were 

in Bolivia, did you have any interaction with our Embassy and its 

staff? And also the fact that we don’t have an Ambassador in place. 

I don’t know what level of involvement or participation they had 

in your visits. 

22

Mr. PENN. Well, as you know, President Morales recently ousted 

USAID. And I think that is further representation of the kind of 

concerns, one, that starts with what has been a history of intervention, often, I think, very negligent intervention on the part of 

United States, both in Bolivia and other countries in South America. This is embedded in the spirit of the people and of their leaders. I think in struggling for a new day, certainly we need Ambassadors. We need them there, we need them in Venezuela. But, yes, 

I had some limited interaction with what again had appeared to be 

a very supportive Charge ́ d’Affaires at the Embassy in Bolivia. But 

as my particular interest at the time was in communicating separate from that because I didn’t want to mix the issues too much, 

I spent most of the time with Bolivian officials. 

Ms. BASS. Last question, slightly different topic, thought. In 

terms of what the President did a couple of weeks ago, I think it 

was a couple of weeks ago, when he expelled USAID, how did you 

read that? Did you read that as President Morales doing that because he needed to take a stand against the U.S.? Or did you ever 

hear of particular concerns? You know, was there some legitimacy 

to that? People were upset about something USAID had done? 

Mr. PENN. I think, you know, as it goes region to region that the 

investment of USAID or the commitments of USAID there were not 

on such a level that it couldn’t be used politically. At the same 

time, I am more inclined to take the President at his word. And 

I think he is fed up with what would be considered hegemony. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Chair recognizes the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Engel. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And let me once again 

thank you for your really hard work and determination in this particular case. You have been doing so much of this for so long that 

everyone really should know it. 

And, Mr. Penn, I want to thank you for adding star power to 

this. It is really very, very important. It is frustrating for us. You 

know, we try to get people to focus on it. But everyone is going a 

million different directions. And as the ranking member on the full 

committee, I want to just thank you for coming here. It is very, 

very, very good of you. 

The case obviously is heartbreaking. The injustice on Jacob 

Ostreicher and his family is difficult to fully grasp. And when he 

was detained under murky circumstances in Bolivia in 2011, no 

one could have imagined that to this day he would be prevented 

from going home to New York. It is now clear, as was said here, 

that Jacob was the victim of a sordid extortion ring. And multiple 

arrests have been made in the case. And we fully expected these 

arrests would be followed by his release. But, unfortunately, he is 

in a legal spiral. And even though the prosecution has never presented evidence against him, he has now been held in Bolivia for 

718 days. 

I have met with Evo Morales on different occasions, once right 

here in this building in my office, once in Bolivia. I would certainly 

be willing to meet with him again. What is happening here is reflecting very poorly on Bolivia, its legal system and its government. 

And I had said to President Morales, he threw out our AmbasVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
23

sador—this was several years ago—and kicked out our drug agents, 

and seemed to feel that things could go on as usual, normal as 

usual. It really cannot be the case. And it is difficult for our governments to have relations as usual as long as Jacob Ostreicher is 

there. 

Mr. Penn, you have visited Mr. Ostreicher in Bolivia. You have 

appeared by his side in some very difficult moments. And I think 

your humanity is something that we all really admire. I see Miriam 

here, Jacob’s wife. And it is good to see you. And I hope that next 

time we will see each other and celebrate in New York after he has 

been released. 

Jimmy Carter, former President, is meeting with Morales today. 

And I hope he—I wish him luck in advocating for Jacob. 

Mr. Penn, I wanted to ask you, we have very few cards to play, 

the United States has very few cards to play. It is frustration because very few cards. But what should we be doing that we haven’t 

done? I know we have all tried. Certainly, the chairman has gone 

there and made it a cause celebre of his. And we have tried to focus 

attention on it. In a situation like this, we are not so sure if we 

make noise about it if it is good for Jacob or if we are quiet about 

it it is good to Jacob. You don’t really know what to do. You don’t 

want to be quiet and then nothing happens; you don’t want to 

make noise and then Morales or whomever gets offended, you have 

to try to find the right mix. In your opinion, because you have been 

doing this and you have been out in front of this, what should we 

be doing here in the Congress that we haven’t done? Or in the government that we haven’t done? 

Mr. PENN. I think this returns to the question from Ms. Bass. 

Because I would agree, it is treacherous territory when going public in any way on these things. There is—and I say this with nothing but regard—a great humility in the culture that is exemplified 

by someone, for example, like President Morales. And when statements are made that seem to be continuations of the ideologies and 

the entitlements and what fairly could be called the arrogances of 

misguided policies, historically or currently, we always have to be 

very cautious. 

When talking about, for example, a letter on the Dakar Rally. I 

think you should know, if I am speaking as fairly as I can, that 

my opinion on that is based on the belief, and I do not think that 

in any way this is over dramatizing or exaggerating the situation, 

I believe Jacob’s life is in danger as we sit here today. The people 

whose own freedom is at risk, both those at large and currently in 

prison and facing charges, are people who have played very serious 

‘‘baseball.’’ It is very hard for us sitting in the United States to understand just how fast a .37 bullet can fly. I think that we are at 

a point now, we don’t want to look back and say, ‘‘We shoulda.’’

So what is our option? I think, for example, to recognize it and 

to do it as I recommended, which is in solidarity with what the government itself claims to be in pursuit of. There is that. 

I also can tell you, simply based on the kind of chatter conversations one has traveling in these regions, I think that it would be 

a very, very powerful step for the United States to look to negotiating the release of one or more of the Cuban Five. 

24

I think that we always have to look at the result. And the result, 

both for someone like Jacob Ostreicher as well as for Alan Gross 

in Cuba, of the United States being the one to step up. 

By no means am I suggesting that Bolivia be given a pause while 

that is considered. But I think we really have to add some perspective. We know that our country has about 28 percent of its citizens 

total with passports at all. And we can all fall into what becomes 

an inherently limited-perspective analysis of the world. 

We could do better. We could do better this way. 

Mr. ENGEL. Would you think that—in your opinion, would it be 

possibly helpful if we made it clear, if our Government made it 

clear that the release of Mr. Ostreicher would lead to a rapprochement with Bolivia? You know, we have had, as I have said, very 

strained relations since our Ambassadors have been out, and drug 

agents, harming cooperation that we had with Bolivia for many, 

many years. Evo Morales made a point when we met with him, because I also took a delegation down there, that he is used to being 

the President of a coca farmers’ union. And made a big point of 

how he is for the rights of the downtrodden. You know, I can’t 

think of anyone more downtrodden right now than Jacob 

Ostreicher. 

Shouldn’t it be indicated to him—I know a lot of this is obviously 

done behind the scenes and not done in hearings—but that his release would allow for a rapprochement, that we have a lot of things 

that we could offer Bolivia, and this might be a step in the right 

direction; that it takes two to tango and we could probably tango 

together. 

Mr. PENN. Yes. And it is my feeling that that could be done in 

a very genuine way. Because in all of the conversations that I have 

had, and I am talking bipartisan groups related to this within government—within the United States Government, there is an enormous will to embrace the selected indigenous President of that 

country. A tremendous will. But as long as Bolivia and its judiciary, or the President, in effect takes cover behind an institution 

that has an internal revolution going on within it of corruption, we 

won’t be able to—I wouldn’t expect that our Government officials 

would get very far with their constituencies. I think that he has to 

make this first move. I hope he does for Bolivia’s sake. I hope he 

does for his sake and his leadership’s sake. 

Mr. ENGEL. Well, I think that is very well put. And I would certainly concur with what you said. 

The final thing I want to say, very much in the past several 

years the policies of Bolivia have been wrapped around the policies 

of Venezuela. And the two governments have been working in tandem. Obviously, there is in Venezuela, with a longstanding leader 

passing away, I would hope that this case could lead, perhaps, to 

Evo Morales standing up on his own and breaking out on his own 

and showing that he is nobody’s number 2 person, he is branching 

out and going to be number 1 in terms of dealing with the United 

States. I would say that I hope to do everything that might be done 

to help facilitate that. I just hope that he would understand that 

I think there is a very big chance now with Hugo Chavez being 

gone that the United States and Bolivia could perhaps reach out 

25

again in cooperation and what better way to start than by releasing Jacob Ostreicher. 

Mr. PENN. I would only, if I may, I would only caution that the 

pursuit of that from the United States’ side must be very sensitive 

to the understanding that it is not because it wasn’t available due 

to President Chavez, this is always going to be two-sided, it is not 

going to be that they are going to be necessarily more in-line ideologically with what we as the United States want them to be, but 

in fact that there has been an existing potential diplomatic relationship far exceeding that which either side has been successful 

in accomplishing for reasons of stigma and propaganda, and because we suffered—I think one of the great enemies of Jacob 

Ostreicher today has been one of the greatest challenges we face 

throughout the world, which is the media perversion of the circumstances. When the media perverts the circumstances, then our 

own politicians are also influenced as we are talking about President Morales being. 

I can tell you of a circumstance, you know, we were involved, 

President Chavez helped very directly with the three U.S. hikers 

who were in Iran. And it was then-Minister of Foreign Affairs 

Maduro and his then-Deputy, Temir Porras, with whom I met and 

who directly went to Iran to negotiate with the Supreme Leader 

following failed negotiations with President Ahmadinejad. So here 

was the Venezuelans meeting me at the airport in New York City 

on behalf of three Americans who were arrested in Iran. 

It just takes a little respect to get a long way, particularly in 

these regions that I would concur with my military friend, who I 

was quoting before, with whom we have so much more in common 

than we do in difference. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you very much, Mr. Penn. I have always been 

a fan of yours for other reasons, but now I am really a fan of yours. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. PENN. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Engel. 

Ms. Vela ́zquez. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Penn, thank you so much for bringing a unique perspective 

that sometimes is lacking when we are dealing with issues concerning Latin America. You know, here we are, sometimes we don’t 

like—we support and encourage democratic processes throughout 

the world but when those democratic processes produce results that 

we don’t like then it brings a different dynamic. And sometimes 

cases, like Mr. Ostreicher, are linked to those dynamics whether 

we like it or not. I hope that from this moment forward we seize 

the opportunity as a government to improve our relationships with 

Latin America and deal as equals. Because that is important. 

So, as a private citizen, Mr. Penn, you have a unique access to 

this case. My question to you is, given what you know, given all 

the meetings that you have held with officials in the past and the 

present, now they are saying that he is going to be held under 

house arrest for 5 more months. Do you see any light at the end 

of the tunnel in terms of a resolution that gets him home within 

those 5 months? Or do you foresee that it might take longer? 

26

Mr. PENN. As long as the leadership maintains that this is under 

the authority of the judiciary and claims a position that they have 

no legal recourse outside of that, my experience with and witness 

of that judiciary is I would have absolutely no faith on Earth that 

he will ever leave Bolivia if it is left to that. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. You have worked in so many worthy causes, 

from victims in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 to Hurricane 

Katrina in 2005. Could you take a moment and tell us what compelled you to advocate for Jacob Ostreicher? 

Mr. PENN. A colleague, the actor Mark Wahlberg, had called me. 

I think that—my understanding is that he had had some philanthropic activities with some of the rabbis from Mr. Ostreicher’s synagogue. And asked—I think initially he had asked if I might bring 

the case to President Chavez. And at that point, I informed him 

that I might be able to bring it directly to President Morales, which 

is what I did. 

And as I said, it was—you know I can give you a very simple answer, it timed at a point when I could pay attention to it. And in 

paying attention to it, I couldn’t stop paying attention to it. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Nadler. 

Mr. NADLER. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Let me again start by thanking you, Mr. Penn, for your activism 

in this and a few other things. Let me ask you a few questions. 

You said the President is—President Morales is fed up with what 

he considers hegemony. Are you referring to the hegemony of the 

United States or the judiciary? 

Mr. PENN. Of the United States. 

Mr. NADLER. Of the United States. And in light of that, you suggested that American companies could put pressure on the government by threatening to pull out of the Dakar Rally. Do you think 

that would—there is a real risk that that would be viewed as more 

hegemony and might backfire, or is that something we ought to 

try? 

Mr. PENN. Well, the companies themselves are not only U.S. 

companies. I think that, you know, that this can come in a variety 

of ways. I would like to consider, and I think that myself in consultation with other supporters of Mr. Ostreicher will send out a 

request for citizens on an international level to support this and to 

make these reach-outs to these companies. I would like to talk directly and attempt to talk directly to these companies and people 

on the boards of these companies. 

But again, it goes back to the threshold consideration and that 

there has been quite a concerted effort on behalf of Mr. Ostreicher 

in a situation where virtually nothing else has worked or made 

sense. I mean, I think in talking to anyone that has been in proximity to this case, it really makes no sense. And aside from Mr. 

Ostreicher and his family, the damage it is doing is so particularly 

to the leadership in Bolivia and to the people. This is, I believe, a 

wake-up call because it goes very much to—the beneficiaries of that 

investment are going to start with those who are in the opposition. 

Mr. NADLER. Thank you. Do you think the President realizes how 

much this is damaging Bolivia? 

27

Mr. PENN. No. I don’t think so. I think that the President’s area 

of expertise is very, very rich, and his areas of deference to the expertise of others is fairly weighted as well, and I have minimal 

faith in many of the others who surround the President. 

Mr. NADLER. Okay. Now, you either said or implied before that 

you thought the President, President Morales, thought that Mr. 

Ostreicher’s treatment had been unfair but that he has deferred to 

the judiciary. Now, I don’t know what the situation is in Bolivia, 

maybe you do, that is why I am going to ask the question. In this 

country and in many countries, the prosecutions, the prosecutors 

are agents of the executive branch, not of the judiciary. Is that the 

case in Bolivia? I mean, could the President simply tell the prosecutors to drop the case? 

Mr. PENN. Say that again, I am sorry. 

Mr. NADLER. Could the President simply tell the prosecutors to 

drop the case? Are they agents—are the prosecutors part of the judiciary or are they agents of the executive branch in Bolivia? 

Mr. PENN. It is my understanding that once the 18 months 

passed that this could come down from the executive branch. 

Mr. NADLER. So we have to convince the President that he could 

do it on his own without taking on the judiciary. 

Mr. PENN. Yes. 

Mr. NADLER. Let me ask you one other—okay. So your judgment 

is that we should pursue this Dakar Rally despite some risk of 

blow-back. 

Mr. PENN. There is no question there is risk of blow-back. 

Mr. NADLER. But the odds are that they should pursue it? 

Mr. PENN. That is my feeling. 

Mr. NADLER. Okay. Let me ask you another thing. Did you, in 

talking to people in Bolivia, to the President, did you get any blowback in a different way: Who the heck are you Americans to be 

talking about someone held for 2 years without a trial when you 

have held hundreds of people in Guantanamo for 10 years without 

a trial? Is this affecting this? 

Mr. PENN. Yes. These things affect us, and it is part of the daily 

conversation. In fact, in my own personal circumstances, after the 

would-be-joke-were-it-not-so-tragic hearing that I described in my 

initial statement, there was a collection of those who had been involved: The lawyers, Embassy staff, U.S. Embassy staff, Venezuelan Embassy staff, and Bolivian Government there, it was at 

that time that Mr. Ostreicher had decided that the only way to approach this—and it is from him I take most of my guidance in answering your questions—though I have not discussed the Dakar 

Rally with him. I was concerned about discussing it prior to coming 

and giving you the testimony—but I had discussed and had at his 

request participated in going public, it is his general feeling that 

it is——

Mr. NADLER. ‘‘His’’ meaning Mr. Ostreicher’s? 

Mr. PENN. Yes. And it was he that requested that we do a press 

conference the day following that mockery of a hearing. When we 

did so, I can tell you that after passing my prepared statements 

that I had written that night before by the Minister of Communications for the Bolivian Government as well as several authorities 

within the judiciary, as well as those representing the other govVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:39 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\052013\81165 HFA PsN: SHIRL
28

ernments who were participating in support, even after getting all 

of my statements signed off on, because I was looking to be very 

careful about how I did it, the blow-back which started with the 

media response and the media manipulation of the things that I 

had said and the way that it was being used to misinform a challenged-literacy population, worked very much against the President. And the President was very upset by the statement I made 

and no doubt will be upset by the statements I have made today. 

I want to go on record saying I have enormous respect for President Morales and great affection for the man, but I just feel that 

my responsibility as a human being is with Jacob Ostreicher on 

this issue. And I do think that President Morales can only benefit 

from all of us speaking out at this point because I think that he 

is like many world leaders, challenged by a bubble and by corrupt 

forces within his own administration. 

Mr. NADLER. Well, we have to hope that you are right. And we 

will pursue that, obviously. 

And, again, thank you for your efforts on this and so many other 

things. 

I yield back. 

Mr. PENN. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Nadler. 

And thank you, Mr. Penn, for your, I think, extraordinary testimony. I think your point, you know, ‘‘challenged by a bubble,’’ what 

a way to put it, is excellent. He needs to know what is going on, 

doesn’t necessarily get the kind of information that would make a 

difference. I really believe and I hope the press takes note. You 

come here as a friend to Evo Morales. Much of his politics, it 

wouldn’t be something I would agree with, but this is not about 

any of that, it is all about Jacob Ostreicher, a man whose life is 

at grave risk. Justice demands it, humanitarianism demands it. 

And I do think for Evo Morales and the government to step up and 

release him now is enlightened self-interest. It is harming the reputation of the Bolivian Government. 

I would disagree with you about the opposition. I do believe oppositions, no matter where they are, play, whether it be the United 

States or anywhere else, a constructive role. You know, I never 

think of my Democratic friends as the enemy. We are the loyal opposition, and vice versa. And I do think they play a very good role. 

I know there are certain members of the opposition who are facing 

charges themselves, Senator Pinto, for example, and many others. 

It ought to be all about an absolutely unassailable judiciary that 

just looks at lawbreakers and then prosecutes them. 

Mr. PENN. Yes, if I mistakenly generalized that, certainly, I 

didn’t mean it in a blanket sort of way. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. We do have a list, I will make it part of 

the record, of all of the, so far, 27 individuals—and I do hope the 

press and my colleagues will take a good, long look at it starting 

with Fernando Rivera, lawyer of the Ministry of Government. And 

as you go down it, we are talking about very high-level people in 

the prosecution service who themselves now are in Palmasola prison or under house arrest, and five of them are fugitives. So, you 

know, this—the facade of legitimacy has been ripped off. Jacob, 

sadly, has been the cause, or the proximate cause, as to why that 

29

happened. But on behalf of his family, we all just want him back. 

And you have done, I think, a huge service to justice, democracy, 

human rights, and to Jacob Ostreicher. 

If you have anything you would like to say in conclusion, or we 

will just conclude the hearing. 

Mr. PENN. I would just thank you all, and I’m very honored and 

grateful to have been able to share the comments. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Penn, and we look forward to working with you in the future. We appreciate it. 

Mr. PENN. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

(31)

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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

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SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING NOTICE 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6128 

Subcommittee ou Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations 

Christopher H, Smith (R-NJ), Chairman 

May 13,2013 

TO: MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

You are respectfully requested to attend an OPEN hearing of the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs, to be held by the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and 

International Organizations in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building (and available live on 

the Committee website at ~~i}L.(Q['t.ig.w~.ffuiTI;J19l·L~~_:_gQY): 

DATE: 

TiME: 

SUBJECT: 

WITNESS: 

Monday, May 20,2013 

300 p.m. 

Advocating for American Jacob Ostreicher's Freedom after Two Years in 

Bolivian Detention 

Mr. Sean Penn 

Founder and Chief Executive Officer 

JIP Haitian Relief Organization 

By Direction of the Chairman 
33

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81165m.eps

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

1\fTNUTES 01" SUUCO\1\11'1'1'UE ON Ajrica, (,'Iobn} Heart", m(}bulHj{/mmRight.~, UllJ Jnterll{ltiflnal(Jrgal!i'{atimr.~ llliAlUNG 

Monday 

Starting Time ~p.m, _ Euding Time 4;30 p.m. __ 

Hecesse, C~O~: ( __ to __ ) ( __ to __ ) ( __ to -l ( __ to -l L--to __ ) ( __ to __ ) 

Presiding Member(s) 

Rep. Chris Smith 

<-neck all ol"thefiJllowin!llhal apply: 

Open Session 11] 

Executive (closed) Session D Televised 11] 

TITJ ,E OF HEARING: 

Electronically Record"'!..(taped) 11] 

Stenographic Record LLJ 

Advomting for American Jacob Os/reicher's Freedom afier Two Years in Bolivian Deten/ion 

Sl'lICOMMITTEE MEMlIERS PRESENT: 

Rep. Bass 

I\O~-SIIRCOMMITTEF. MKVlRERS PRF,sENT: (Mark with an' if they are nnt mpmhers affilil committee) 

Rep. Veiazquez*, Rep. Nadler*, Rep. lingel 

H~~ RING WITNESSES: Same as meeting notice athu::hed? Yes m Nu D 

(If "no ", please list below and include title. agency, department, or organization.) 

STATEMENTS FOR TJlE RECORD: (List any s/aternellts submitted/or the record.) 

List of2? Bolivian officials involved ill Jacob Ostreicher's case who have beell char!(ed 

Statement by Senator Charles Schumer slIbmitted by Rep. Erial Engel 

TI~lli SCHEI>IILF.1l TO I{KCOI\V~:N~: ___ _ 

TIME ADJOURNED 4:30p.m. 

SubcommiHk ~&·a'~ Slaffmn;c;;r 
34

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

f


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35

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE ELIOT L. ENGEL, A

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Æ


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