The Bolivian Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday denied that the arrest of the governor of the department of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, one of the main opposition figures to the president, Luis Arce, and promoter of the strike of more than a month that affected the region in the context of the conflict over the new date of the population census, is «a political persecution».
«The fiscal decision is not about a kidnapping or political persecution. On the contrary, it was issued in October of this year and has the jurisdictional control of the Tenth Criminal Instruction Judge of the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz,» reads a statement from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Likewise, the agency indicates that the process is framed according to the law, «respecting at all times the constitutional rights and guarantees of the accused, as well as the procedural rules applicable to the case».
In addition, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that Camacho «has full knowledge of said process since its beginning, on November 28, 2020, in accordance with the Bolivian legal system».
The Bolivian police arrested Camacho hours before, when he tried to enter his private home in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as reported by the newspaper ‘El Deber’.
Once detained, the security forces forced the governor of Santa Cruz to enter the police vehicle with which they arrived at the place. Witnesses told the newspaper that the agents pointed a gun at Camacho and beat him.
Camacho’s lawyer, Martin Camacho, also confirmed to ‘El Deber’ that the governor has been «kidnapped» and that he is now on his way to Viru Viru International Airport, located in the Santa Cruz region.
The resignation of Morales, who also left the country, was followed by the promotion of Jeanine Áñez as head of state. Áñez is currently in prison for this case, known as ‘coup d’état I’ and ‘coup d’état II’.
Likewise, part of the pro-government sector has accused Camacho in recent weeks of «terrorism» for having encouraged the more than one month long strike in the department of Santa Cruz to demand the approval of the Population and Housing Census.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
