03/13/2021 8:02 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 03/13/2021 8:02 AM
Former Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez was
arrested at dawn this Saturday
in relation to an investigation into an alleged coup against former president Evo Morales.
Bolivian television showed Áñez arriving at the El Alto airport, where it called his arrest "illegal."
Next to her, who was not handcuffed, appeared the Minister of the Government (Interior), Carlos Eduardo del Castillo, and several policemen.
"I inform the Bolivian people that Mrs. Jeanine Áñez has already been apprehended and is currently in the hands of the police," Del Castillo had previously announced on his Twitter and Facebook accounts, congratulating the forces of order for their "great work. (...) in this great and historic task of giving justice to the Bolivian people. "
I inform the Bolivian people that Mrs. Jeanine Añez has already been apprehended and is currently in the hands of the Police. #Justice
- Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo Del Carpio (@EDelCastilloDC) March 13, 2021
For her part, the former president denounced on social networks "an act of abuse and political persecution."
The government "accuses me of having participated in a coup that never happened," Áñez added on his Twitter account.
I denounce to Bolivia and the world that in an act of abuse and political persecution the MAS government has ordered me to arrest.
He accuses me of having participated in a coup that never happened.
My prayers for Bolivia and for all Bolvians.
- Jeanine Añez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) March 13, 2021
At the moment it is unknown where she was detained, but a police contingent could be seen outside her home in the city of Trinidad, capital of the Beni department, located 600 km northeast of La Paz.
Likewise, the former ministers of Justice Álvaro Coimbra, and Energías Rodrigo Guzmán, also detained in this case, have already been transferred from the Prosecutor's Office to cells of the Special Force to Fight Crime.
The whereabouts of another defendant, the former Minister of the Presidency Yerko Núñez, is unknown, while former Defense Ministers Luis Ferniendo López and the Government, Arturo Murillo, also accused, have been declared fugitives after fleeing to the United States.
All of them have been
accused of crimes of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy
, for their possible participation during the violent riots between September 1, 2019 and December 31 of that same year, including the massacres of Sacaba and Senkata, and that They led to the resignation of President Evo Morales to his victory and his departure from the country, heading first to Mexico and then to Argentina.
The second vice president of the Senate and opposition member Jeanine Añez, in the center, with the presidential sash and a Bible, addresses the crowd after she proclaimed herself interim president of the country, in La Paz, Bolivia.
Photo: AP.
The arrest warrant also requests the arrest of Admiral Palmiro Jarjuri, former commander of the Navy, Jorge Gonzalo Terceros, who held the same position in the Air Force, as well as General Gonzalo Mendieta.
Among the soldiers accused by the Prosecutor's Office are also the Air Division General Jorge Elmer Fernández and the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Flavio Gustavo Arce San Martín, who was arrested on Wednesday.
Precisely, this Friday the Prosecutor's Office presented accusations of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism against Flavio Arce in a precautionary hearing in which the Justice issued preventive detention for the ex-military in the San Pedro de La Paz prison, according to the aforementioned Bolivian media.
Added to all this are the arrest warrants already issued on Thursday by the Prosecutor's Office against the former commander of the Bolivian Police Vladimir Yuri Calderón and the former head of the armed forces Williams Kaliman.
Specifically,
the Prosecutor's Office identified 13 former authorities of the previous Government in the framework of this investigation
.
The 'Coup d'Etat' case is part of an investigation following the complaint by former MAS deputy Lidia Patty, who accused Luis Fernando Camacho, governor of Santa Cruz and candidate in the presidential elections last year in which Luis Arce emerged victorious, to instigate, together with his father and various military and police commanders, the riots and the departure of Morales.
With information from news agencies.
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