Carlos was born into an influential Roman Catholic family in the mountain capital of Bolivia, La Paz.
As a young man he worked his way into a good position within government offices, becoming Private Secretary to one of the ministers in the government of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. But in November 2007 his world fell apart. He was falsely accused of financial crimes and incarcerated in San Pedro Prison.
The prison lies close to the centre of La Paz, an imposing castle of huge blank walls hemming in a warren of narrow alleys and dark corridors. The cells, small and pokey, are crammed, row on row, around noisy courtyards. In a jail built for 800 prisoners, there is a population of 2,200.
