Repudiation in Bolivia intensifies amid arrest of former president Jeanine Áñez

The arrest of Jeanine Áñez this morning sparked a wave of repudiation in Bolivia by opposition to the government of Luis Arce. Former presidents and prominent leaders denounce start of campaign of persecution this endangers the constitutional order of the country.

Carlos Mesa, who presided over Bolivia between 2003 and 2005, and came second in the October elections of last year, which enshrined the return to power of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) with the triumph of Arce, was one of the most drastic. “We are in a process of political persecution worse than in dictatorships. It is executed against those who defended democracy and freedom in 2019. Justice and Masist prosecutions are the hammer of the execution. The perpetrators of the fraud are granted amnesties and claim to be victims, ”he wrote on his Twitter account.

In another tweet, the former vice president also denounced “The beginning of a process of political persecution, based on the invention of a ‘case of sedition and coup'”.

These are the charges against Áñez, who led Bolivia on an interim basis between November 12, 2019, after Evo Morales resigned, and on November 8, 2020, when Arce took office. More specifically, “sedition, terrorism and conspiracy” are the charges against him.

Another former president, Jorge Tutorial Quiroga, who led between 2001 and 2002, also condemned Áñez’s arrest. “Luis Arce criminalizes democratic constitutional succession by arresting Jeanine Áñez, who took command after the fraud, resignation and flight of Evo (Morales). The succession has been recognized by the United Nations, the OAS, the European Union and Latin America; and approved by Congress, the Multinational Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice and the elections, ”he wrote on Twitter.

In another post, Quiroga, who was also a candidate in the last election, posted a video of when Morales announced his resignation at a press conference “listening to comrades from Central Obrera Boliviana and also from the Catholic Church”.

Along with the video, Quiroga wrote: “Faced with the political chase, a reminder: for fraud, Evo Morales cancels the elections and resigns from his functions as president on November 10, 2019. It does so at the request of the workers (COB) and the Catholic Church. Not by the fable of the “blow”. “

Samuel Doria Medina, businessman and politician with a long career in the country, who was a pre-candidate for Áñez’s vice-presidency while maintaining her intention to participate in last year’s elections – she ultimately did not – called the move a “dictatorial act” . “The democratic opposition of the country denounces as dictatorial and intolerable act the intention to arrest Jeanine Añez, which is constitutionally protected. Let Arce learn from the experience of the leader of his party: the Constitution is respected yes or yes. “

Luis Fernando Camacho, one of the leaders of the protests against the government of Evo Morales after the 2019 elections, which last weekend was widely imposed in the Santa Cruz departmental governor election, also added to the repudiation of the wave of arrests. He did so through a letter to Arce, which he shared on Twitter.

“President Luis Arce, stop closing my eyes and stop bullying and persecution and start working together for health, jobs and the economy of Bolivia, ”he wrote in the message.

But not only Bolivian politicians have demonstrated against Áñez’s arrest. The same was true for human rights organizations. The most important case is that of José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who argued that “Arrest warrants against Añez and his ministers contain no evidence that they committed the crime of ‘terrorism’“.

“For this reason, they raise doubts based on the fact that this is a politically motivated process.”he added in a Twitter thread.

The case against Áñez

Áñez was arrested at dawn this Saturday after an arrest warrant was issued which led police to surround her home on Friday and then search her, although they could not find her at her home. For the moment, no other information on the arrest has emerged..

Former acting president of Bolivia charged with crimes of sedition, terrorism and conspiracy.

“The political persecution has started. The Movement for Socialism (MAS) has decided to return to the styles of dictatorship. Too bad because Bolivia does not need dictators, it needs freedom and solutions “Áñez denounced after learning that the prosecution had issued an arrest order.

The Minister of Justice, Iván Lima Magne, stressed that the complaint which opened the investigation which led to the arrest, “was lodged against the former senator Jeanine Áñez, and not against the former president”, so “is not protected by a liability judgment“.

On another side, Bolivian authorities arrested former energy minister Rodrigo Guzmán on Friday in Trinidad, in the north of the country, who “was stopped in the middle of the street by three guys who did not even identify themselves, they put him in a car and took him away”, according to his wife, Dalia Lima.

Among those accused by the prosecution are also the former ministers of justice, Álvaro Coimbra – already arrested -; of Áñez’s government and right-hand man, Arturo Murillo – is in the United States -; from the presidency, Yerko Núñez; and Defense, Luis Fernando López.

All have been charged with crimes of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy, for his possible participation in the violent riots from September 1, 2019 to December 31 of the same year, including the massacres of Sacaba and Senkata, and which led to the resignation of Morales upon his victory and his departure from the country. first in Mexico and then in Argentina.

The arrest warrant also calls for the arrest of Admiral Palmiro Jarjuri, former naval commander.by Jorge Gonzalo Terceros, who held the same post in the Air Force, as well as General Gonzalo Mendieta.

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