Scandalous struggle in the Assembly between the ruling party …

Two Bolivian parliamentarians exchanged insults, kicks and pineapples during an arrest to government minister, Eduardo del Castillo, for the arrest of de facto ex-president Jeanine Áñez in March. They are Senator Henry Montero, of the right-wing Creemos party, and MP Antonio Gabriel Colque of the ruling Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS). Two other members of the congregation grabbed hold of the hair. The discussion that polarized the opposition and ruling parliamentarians was whether the political and social crisis the country went through in 2019 that led to the resignation of former President Evo Morales was the product of fraud election or coup.

The report presented during the session by Minister Eduardo del Castillo was preceded by the presence outside the Assembly of victims of the Sacaba, Senkata and Pedregal massacres in which more than twenty civilians died as a result of the crackdown by security forces when Áñez assumed the country’s interim presidency following the coup against Evo Morales. This event was symbolized by three cardboard coffins which were displayed at the entrance to the Parliament.

Inside, the Assembly was filled with banners calling for “justice” for the victims or questions about “where is the money from the tear gas?”, in reference to the recent corruption scandal afflicting the de facto government of Áñez. In front of the main lectern, there was also a stack of papers with the inscriptions “Actas 2019” and “Actas 2020” with which del Castillo challenged opponents to demonstrate that there had been no electoral fraud during these two years.

In his speech, del Castillo called on the opposition to “commit to voting in a liability case against Jeanine Áñez and her mafia clan”. In addition, the minister called the document of the Organization of American States (OAS) on the alleged irregularities in the 2019 elections a “brochure”. “In our country, there was no electoral fraud and all the people around her (Áñez) did everything possible to consummate a coup, ”said del Castillo.

“Accomplice of corruption, drug trafficking and death, silence! Keep your cool! The Bolivian people see you”, came to reprimand the young civil servant in front of the cries of the opponents who interrupted his explanation. Until a fourth intermission was to dictate by the shots between parliamentarians Colque and Montero. Cree MP for Santa Cruz, Tatiana ñez and her counterpart from MAS of El Alto, María Alanoca, also braided.

The act of interpellation continued and theMAS’s majority bank offered its support to del Castillo for the actions that led to Áñez’s arrest. The former de facto president has been in preventive detention since mid-March, accused of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism following a complaint from former MAS parliamentarian Lidia Patty.