( Spanish) — The governor of Santa Cruz Fernando Camacho, a prominent Bolivian opposition leader who ran for president in 2020, accepted the right to remain silent before the country’s prosecutor’s office in the case of the “coup d’état I,” the state agency reported Thursday. Bolivian Information, ABI.
Camacho awaits his precautionary hearing in which it will be defined if he defends himself in freedom or from jail. The date and time of the hearing is not known.
The opponent was apprehended in Santa Cruz and later transferred by air to La Paz, where the “Coup d’état I” case for which he is accused is based, the statement said.
He adds that Camacho was taken to the offices of the Special Force to Fight Crime (FELCC) in El Alto and then to the police offices in the city of La Paz.
For his part, Camacho posted on his Twitter account:
“Today I was kidnapped by the MAS justice system. My only fault is having defended democracy and, together with a united people, having stopped fraud.
I am not afraid of the prison of the dictatorship. I will always defend Santa Cruz and Bolivia, I will defend democracy and I will defend the federal path. Go ahead Santa Cruz!
The government has denied that it is a kidnapping and says that it is part of the “Coup d’état I” case.
The “Coup d’état I” case refers to the political and social crisis that followed the 2019 elections, when a coup d’état was allegedly planned against the government of then-president Evo Morales.
Former President Evo Morales has maintained that he was forced to resign in a 2019 coup after the head of the Bolivian Armed Forces asked him to step down to restore peace and stability. The Bolivian opposition then accused the electoral authorities of manipulating the vote count in favor of Morales in the presidential election.
“Finally, after 3 years, Luis Fernando Camacho will answer for the coup that led to robberies, persecutions, arrests and massacres of the de facto government,” Morales tweeted Wednesday, commenting on Camacho’s arrest.
