Two members of the Bolivian Congress clashed violently with kicks and punches Tuesday, June 8 during a public parliamentary session, devoted to a report on the detention of former right-wing president Jeanine Áñez.
Senator Henry Montero, of the right-wing Creemos party (opposition) and deputy Antonio Gabriel Colque, of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS, in power), came to blows in the hemicycle, according to images broadcast by television, while Interior Minister Fernando del Castillo reported on this report.
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The minister notably referred to the political situation resulting from the resignation in 2019 of ex-president Evo Morales, reiterating the accusations of the MAS and its allies about an opposition coup after the appointment of an interim president in the person of Jeanine Añez.
The opposition, on the contrary, denounced the imprisonment last March of Jeanine Añez, considering it a violation of the law and again rejected the accusations of coup, assuring that the Bolivians had risen in 2019 against Evo. Morales, accused of electoral fraud.
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"Accomplices, accomplices!"
, then launched the Minister of the Interior to the address of the members of Parliament of Creemos, led by the governor of the region of Santa Cruz (east), Luis Fernando Camacho, who played an important role in the fall of Evo Morales. Senator Montero demanded respect before being jostled by MP Colque and some of his colleagues. The two men then came to blows, Gabriel Colque finding himself on the ground under the blows of his rival. Two other parliamentarians, Tatiana Áñez de Creemos and María Alanoca of MAS, also fought by pulling their hair, in another place dependent on Parliament. The parliamentary session was suspended to restore calm, and the minister was finally able to continue his speech.
