The Bolivian court slaps arrest warrant for Jeanine Anez former interim president
A Bolivian court has issued arrest warrants for Jeanine Añez, the former interim president who seized power in a coup d’etat in late 2019, and her senior ministers, warning they are a possibility of a “flight risk.”
“The political persecution has begun,” Anez said on Twitter. “The MAS has decided to return to the styles of the dictatorship. A shame because Bolivia does not need dictators, it needs freedom and solutions.”
She was referring to the ruling Movement for Socialism Party under the leadership of former President Evo Morales’ successor and current President Luis Arce.
The court filing shared by Anez also orders the arrest of five government ministers and four military chiefs. It charges Anez and the others with “sedition, terrorism and conspiracy.”
La persecución polÃtica ha comenzado. El MAS ha decidido volver a los estilos de la dictadura. Una pena porque Bolivia no necesita dictadores, necesita libertad y soluciones.
Pueden descarga la denuncia con la que pretenden perseguirnos: https://t.co/eVQKCMtcui
РJeanine A̱ez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) March 12, 2021
New elections were originally slated for May 2020, but after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in the year, Añez’s government repeatedly postponed the elections until ten days of mass demonstrations until October 18. The leading contender in the race was the MAS candidate Luis Arce, who swept the October elections with 65% of the vote.
On Friday Bolivia’s former energy and justice ministers Rodrigo Guzmán and Alvaro Coimbra, had also been arrested in the northern city of Trinidad.
The decision to arrest former Gen. William Kaliman and ex-police chief Ivan Calderón was denounced by the independent Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Bolivia, a group that originally emerged to confront military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s.
Both allies and foes of Morales allege they were victim of deadly persecution either before or after his ouster.
Image Credit Wiki
