Former Bolivian President and her former ministers are sent to jail

The former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez and the temporary former ministers of her brief government Álvaro Coímbra, of Justice, and Rodrigo Guzmán, of Energy, will be sent to prison for four months as a preventive measure, while civic committees and victims of the crisis that the In 2019, the country is preparing marches for and against this measure.

The criminal investigating judge Regina Santa Cruz determined the preventive detention of the temporary ex-president (2019-2020) at the Obrajes Feminine Orientation Center, while the former ministers will be detained in the San Pedro prison.

During the hearing, which lasted almost ten hours and took place virtually, the allegations of Áñez, the Prosecutor’s Office and the former deputy of the ruling party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) Lidia Patty were heard, who in December 2020 filed a complaint for “ coup ”before the Public Ministry.

“The fact that they want to brand me as a coup leader is recurrent. A government cannot be a coup when a Legislative Assembly functions, ”Áñez said when addressing the judge.

She demanded to be tried in a liability trial for her figure as a former president and reiterated that she has no intention of leaving the country and that she will continue to “show her face” when Justice requires it.

“Together with Mrs. Eva Copa (then president of the Senate) and the Legislative Assembly, a law was approved and we promulgated a law calling for general elections, that I think was a great achievement for all Bolivians, as a result of which we called elections and Mr. (Luis) Arce is president ”, affirmed Áñez,

“I was born in Bolivia, I live in Bolivia and I will die in Bolivia,” she settled from the facilities of the Special Force to Fight Crime (Felcc) in La Paz, where she remains detained along with her two former ministers.

Áñez, detained early Saturday morning, and his former ministers, apprehended on Friday afternoon, are prosecuted in the context of the “coup d’état” case and are accused of sedition, terrorism and conspiracy during the 2019 crisis after the failed elections that resulted in the resignation of Evo Morales to the Presidency of Bolivia.

The Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office had requested six months of preventive detention this Sunday, but the judge considered that it was a long time for the investigation.

REPORT THREATS

The former Minister of Justice Coimbra denounced on Twitter that their families are being “harassed and threatened” and said that “whatever happens to them” is the responsibility of former President Evo Morales and President Luis Arce.

“It is a complete abuse, it is all illegal, they are orders from above, everything is armed,” Dalia Lima, wife of former minister Guzmán, lamented to Efe.

After knowing the judicial decision, Jeanine Áñez pointed out that “the MAS decides and the judicial system obeys.” and that she will be detained “to await trial for a” coup that never occurred. “

CALL FOR MARCHES

In the Amazon city of Trinidad, where Áñez and the two former ministers were apprehended, a civic committee demanded their release within the next 48 hours and warned of other pressure measures.

In addition, the Pro Santa Cruz Committee called a rally for the afternoon of this Monday and the civil resistance of Oruro asked that the citizen councils be retaken to express their rejection of the apprehensions.

On the contrary, since Saturday a group of people among “self-convened”, unionists, transporters and representatives of victims of the 2019 conflicts have been holding a vigil at the doors of the Felcc and demanding that justice be done and that “all the burden falls of the law ”on Áñez and his ministers.

On the other hand, in the South Zone of La Paz another group of people gathered to express their support for the temporary ex-president and the ex-ministers, pointing out that their government was not the product of a “coup d’état”.

REQUEST “MAXIMUM ATTENTION”

Former President Carlos Mesa, leader of Bolivia’s main opposition party, the Citizen Community, sent a letter this Sunday to the UN, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) in which he denounces “judicial persecution” in his country.

Mesa (2003-2005) urged that the “international community pay its utmost attention to Bolivia, to avoid in the near future the collapse of democracy and the systematic violation of human rights.”

For its part, the opposition group Alianza Creemos filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) a request for precautionary measures for Áñez, Guzmán and Coímbra, and all the people who are being prosecuted “for the social mobilizations that requested the resignation of former president Evo Morales in 2019 ”.

The archbishop of the city of Santa Cruz, Monsignor Sergio Gualberti, questioned that “it is intended to label the people and their representatives who defended the citizen vote and democracy as coup plotters, while the perpetrators of the fraud are presented as victims. Democracy demands respect for human rights ”.

Likewise, the authorities reported the arrest of Yassir Molina, leader of the Cochala Youth Resistance, who led several demonstrations after the failed 2019 elections.