Bill Richardson: Jacob Ostreicher’s Escape Helped By Public Pressure And Diplomacy

Santa Fe, NM - Bill Richardson, who served as the two term governor of New Mexico, and a former U.S presidential candidate, said Tuesday that a mixture of public pressure and private diplomacy fostered the return of Jewish businessman Jacob Ostreicher to American soil after he was held captive for more than two years in Bolivia.

JNS.org news service reports that Richardson said on a conference call with reporters that intensive public pressure by many Jewish organizations was very effective.

  

“What needs to happen in successful releases is a combination of public pressure and private diplomacy,” . “Those combinations in many cases are the roots for success.” Richardson said, “With Ostreicher there was. 

 Richardson said he doesn’t “have all the details of [Ostreicher’s] escape from Bolivia but he cited a meeting he had with Bolivian President Evo Morales a year ago.

“At one point Jacob said he had a plan and he wanted us to lay off a bit, and I guess that plan of his has resulted in his escape,” Richardson said.