Little is being revealed about Jacob Ostreicher’s flight from house arrest in Bolivia and into the care of actor-activist Sean Penn, on Monday December 16, 2013.
The New York businessman arrived in the U.S. after an ordeal that began more than two years ago when he was detained as part of a money laundering probe into a rice-growing venture. His Orthodox Jewish family, associates in Bolivia and the State Department are all expressing a mixture of relief and surprise, and not much else.
No one is saying how the 54-year-old fled, or who helped him.
“You’ll never find out,” Peter Hakim, president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington said. If the U.S. was involved, “it was done through layers and layers of cover,” he said.
Penn, who last year traveled to La Paz and directly appealed to President Evo Morales to free Ostreicher, said a “humanitarian operation” had been mounted to extract the American “from the corrupt prosecution and imprisonment he was suffering.” But his statement in an email to The Associated Press gave no details on how that was done.
The State Department was equally circumspect, while family members said they were being kept in the dark and hadn’t spoken with Ostreicher.
Bolivia’s government was talking, its officials expressing outrage and warning they could seek his extradition.
Analysts said the chances of bringing back Ostreicher are slim. Noting he won media attention by denouncing from jail an extortion ring that reached into high levels of the government, some speculated his flight might have even enjoyed the government’s quiet consent. Bolivia had made no inquiries about Ostreicher’s escape as of Tuesday, the State Department said.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC / AP)
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6 Responses
Apart from what we know we don’t know, there is something very strange about this story. His choice of hat and clothing for example.
Something about this story does not add up. If penn is on good terms with Bolivian pres, why would penn “steal” ostreicher from Bolivia making the president look like a fool?
This story requires a lot of clarification.
Wahlberg obviously wants the rights…who’s the lookout guy in background??
Talmidchochom
whoever said penn was his friend?
Perhaps the obstreperous Mr. Penn has found a better calling! He has obviously been far more effective than Clinton and Kerry. He takes social justice seriously, has non-prejudiced principles, possesses diplomatic skill, and does not kowtow to political pressure…he can obviously also keep a secret a secret. Can the Rubashkin family, Esther Pollard, and the family of Alan Gross(imprisoned in Cuba) hire him?
1. Yes I agree that looks like Wahlberg
2. To #1 what do you expect him to wear?? He is wearing a nice hat. Do you expect him to wear a nice boro park kind of hat while he is hiding out?? What a silly comment!
3. Obviously there are reasons why this story is being kept very quiet. It’s none of our business at this time. One day the story will most likely come out.