Socialist Bolivia Seeks to Imprison Top Conservative Leaders in Nation for 20 Years
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bolivia presented charges on Tuesday against the right-wing governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, and former President Jeanine Áñez for their alleged participation in a “coup” against former socialist President Evo Morales in 2019.
Omar Mejillones, the prosecutor leading the “coup” case, is requesting a 20-year prison sentence for Camacho, Áñez, and six other men accused of plotting to “depose” Morales.
In reality, Morales was not the target of a coup but chose voluntarily to resign in late 2019 after the Organization of American States (OAS) found evidence of fraud in his unconstitutional fourth electoral victory. Morales fled the country to Mexico along with nearly his entire cabinet, leaving Áñez, then a senator, the top person in the line of succession in the country. She became interim president for a year before fulfilling her constitutional duty to organize elections as soon as possible. Bolivia is currently governed by Morales’s Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) Party.