Bolivia to open trial against Luis Almagro | It is P …

Bolivian Justice Minister Iván Lima announced on Tuesday that his government decided to bring to justice the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, for “violations” of the entity’s agreements with the Andean nation.

“There has been a clear and blatant violation of the actions agreed between Bolivia and the OAS, by the OAS and Luis Almagro,” Lima said. The head of the justice portfolio explained that the government “is evaluating legal avenues”. “they are probably not exclusive and we can all follow simultaneously”, and that they intend to reach “the corresponding instances”.

Lima alluded to the OAS’s preliminary report on the October 2019 elections, which ultimately led to a political crisis in Bolivia and the resignation of former President Evo Morales. According to the report, there were “irregularities” in the elections. In the minister’s opinion, the report was not part of an agreement signed between the Bolivian state and the organization and, “worse still”, the final report was published in December 2019. Out of time.

Lima has announced that legal action will be taken against Almagro, given what it considers to be “persistent interference actions” in the country and because of the statements made by Almagro on the alleged electoral fraud of 2019. So he hopes be held responsible for the “seriousness of their claims and the irresponsibility” of the organization’s report.

The OAS recently proposed to create an international commission to investigate cases of corruption in Bolivia from the Morales government to the present day, including the period of Jeanine Áñez. On the other hand, the organization questioned the Bolivian judicial system and claimed that there was no guarantee of a “fair” trial, “impartiality or due process” against former senior government officials.

A statement from the secretary general of the agency, a post occupied by Almagro, criticized the arrest of Añez on Thursday, without however naming the former de facto president. << The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States declares that it has duly noted the concerns expressed in the communications of various international bodies and expresses its own concern. in the face of the abuse of judicial mechanisms which have once again become repressive instruments of the ruling party, “starts the text.

The press release also accuses the Bolivian courts of favoring the ruling party. “In recent months it has been confirmed the annulment or rejection of various lawsuits against MAS supporters, as well as threats of judicial persecution against politicians opposed to the government. Unfortunately, these threats have materialized in many cases. In this context, it is important to remember that the Inter-American Democratic Charter in its article 3 defines as an essential element of representative democracy the separation and independence of public powers, ”said the office occupied by Almagro.

The Bolivian Foreign Ministry was quick to respond to Almagro. “Once again, Luis Almagro spoke use human rights discourse to further the particular and political interests it represents; leaving aside the defense of the victims of very serious human rights violations committed by the de facto government which has abused its power to persecute, torture and murder those who have and had as political enemies, “said the Bolivian ministry Foreign Affairs”.Mr. Almagro does not have the moral or ethical authority to refer to Bolivia, after the profound damage he has caused to the Bolivian people by his colonialist interference during the electoral process of 2019. His actions cost human lives and he must be held responsible for his biased and far from objectivity behavior, which has discredited such an important body for the countries of our America. “

The text of the OAS General Secretariat also received a harsh response from Oscar Laborde, president of the Observatory of Democracy of the Parliament of Mercosur (Parlasur). Laborde accused Almagro of having acted with “impudence” and of “claiming to interfere openly in the political situation in Bolivia”, after “having provoked a coup d’etat with massacres, assassinations, political persecutions and prosecutions”.

According to Laborde, “it is now clear that Almagro presents himself as the leader of the political opposition in the MAS government”. The Argentine parliamentarian added that the recommendations made today by the OAS show “no type of knowledge or precision” on the functioning of the Bolivian judicial system.

“What Almagro is proposing is the start of a conspiracy against a democratic government (chaired by Luis Arce), seeking the support of certain countries in the region,” said Laborde, who is also a deputy for Parlasur, where he occupies one of the vice-presidencies.

And then he warned against Almagro: “He is proposing direct intervention on the Plurinational State of Bolivia, not just on its judiciary.”

Evo Morales, for his part, accused Almagro of committing crimes against humanity. “He never spoke of the 36 murders, the more than 800 injured, the 1,500 illegally detained and the hundreds of persecuted,” he said on his Twitter account. “Almagro’s statements are a new attack on democracy: they deny Áñez’s self-proclamation, the massacres, the 1,500 illegal detentions, the persecution and corruption in a pandemic, which is a crime against the humanity. The struggle of the humble cannot be ignored ”. he tweeted.