The United States demanded the release of former Bolivian president Jeanine Áñez

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony blink, asked this Saturday on release of former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez and two of her former ministers, and expressed concern about the “signs of undemocratic behavior“in Bolivia.

In a statement, Blinken expressed the strongest reaction to date from the US presidential administration, Joe biden, to the arrest two weeks ago of the three Bolivian politicians, accused of “sedition, terrorism and conspiracy“.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the growing signs of undemocratic behavior and the politicization of the legal system in Bolivia., after the recent arrest and pre-trial detention of former interim government officials, ”said the US Foreign Minister.

Without directly mentioning Áñez or the former detained ministers, Álvaro Coimbra and Rodrigo Guzmán, the head of American diplomacy evoked at all times the “former officialsOr former interim government officials who emerged after what the current Bolivian executive sees as the 2019 coup.

“We ask the Bolivian government to clarify its support for peace, democracy and national reconciliation, releasing former officials detained while an independent and transparent investigation into human rights and due process matters is underway, “Blinken said.

He added that these arrests “do not conform to the democratic ideals of Bolivia“, and”discredit the extraordinary efforts of so many Bolivian voters, candidates and officials“Who turned into”democratic successThe October 2020 elections and this month’s subnational elections.

Blinken added that there were doubts about the “legality“Among the aforementioned arrests to be”based on unsubstantiated charges, for the apparent breaches of due process in their execution and for the deeply politicized nature of the Bolivian government’s monitoring work“.

The US foreign minister stressed that he still hopes to maintain a “solid and respectful relationship»With the government of the current president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and that both the authorities and the Bolivian demonstrators act in this matter with “peace, confinement and respect“.

He also assured that his position coincided with that of “the European Union (EU), the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Bolivia and Bolivian and international human rights organizations“.

Blinken’s position comes nearly two weeks after the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, demanded the release of Áñez and the two former ministers, in part because he considered that “the Bolivian judicial system is not able to provide the minimum guarantees of fairness and impartiality”.

At a meeting this week in Mexico, Arce and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged Almagro not to interfere in the countries’ internal affairs.

Áñez and members of his cabinet are accused of “sedition and terrorism” during the 2019 crisis after the failed elections that led to the resignation of Evo Morales as president of Bolivia, which the current executive considers to be a coup.

Along with them and two former high-ranking military commanders, there are also proceedings against other opposition political leaders and several ex-soldiers and former police officers wanted by the courts.

(With information from EFE)

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