PEACE_ Citizen and family organizations called for a march on Thursday, one year after the arrest of the opposition leader Luis Fernando Camachogovernor of the Bolivian region of Santa Cruz, imprisoned by the government of Luis Arce on charges of terrorism.
Camacho is being investigated for the protests he led in 2019 after electoral fraud in the general elections that was confirmed after an investigation by the Organization of American States (OAS). Then-President Evo Morales, who modified the Constitution and sought a fourth consecutive term, was forced to resign after massive demonstrations throughout the country that left 37 dead in 21 days of street clashes.
Bolivia, “model of dictatorship”
“This kidnapping (prison) is part of a political struggle between a government that intends to subject Bolivians to a dictatorship like the Cuban and Venezuelan ones and a people that wants to recover their democracy. That conviction makes me feel firm,” Camacho told Unitel television.
“We are grateful as a family, it will be a massive caravan,” said Camacho’s son, also named Luis Fernando. Citizen and civic organizations from that region announced that they will join the protest, said the president of the influential Civic Committee, Fernando Larach. “It will be an act of protest and support not only for Camacho but for all the persecuted and political prisoners,” he said.
The imprisonment of the opposition leader in a maximum security prison intended for the most dangerous criminals in La Paz unleashed violent protests with the burning of public offices, the arrest of more than a hundred protesters and dozens of injuries in that region.
More than a hundred political, military and police leaders are being prosecuted in Bolivia, including interim president Jeanine Áñez, sentenced to 10 years in a first trial.
As the second president of the Senate, Áñez proclaimed herself president and headed a transitional government that called elections in 2020. Morales’ party, the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), returned to power with Arce, but the two are now at loggerheads over party leadership and the 2025 presidential candidacy.
Source: AP/FOR
