( Spanish) — The Bolivian justice system ordered the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, to receive medical treatment in the Chonchocoro prison, as confirmed by both his lawyer and the authorities.
The lawyer for the Santa Cruz president, Juan Carlos Camacho, told that a court on duty in La Paz agreed this Friday to issue a measure so that the opposition leader receives the weekly injections of human immunoglobulin that he requires, since he suffers from selective deficiency of the IgG immunoglobulins.
Camacho, who is the only opposition governor in the entire country, remains in preventive detention after being arrested on Wednesday, accused of the crime of terrorism related to the “Coup d’état I” case.
The lawyer added that he hoped that on Friday afternoon a medical team could enter Chonchocoro and offer medical treatment to his client.
Earlier, the Bolivian Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, announced that the governor of Santa Cruz will have an isolated cell and that health measures will be respected, as is done with all people in his condition.
The minister defended Camacho’s detention, arguing that due process has been complied with in all judicial instances and that, therefore, it is not a “kidnapping”, as his lawyer initially said. He added that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office had no other option than to issue the arrest warrant” against Camacho, noting that he had been repeatedly notified to attend to testify in Santa Cruz or in La Paz on the “Coup d’état I” case. “, which has been against him since 2020, but indicated that he never attended. He explained that the arrest warrant had been issued since October.
In accordance with Article 226 of the Bolivian Code of Criminal Procedure, the Prosecutor’s Office can order the arrest of an accused citizen when his presence is necessary and there are sufficient indications that he is participating in a crime and that he may escape, and that this person must be brought before a judge.
This Friday morning, a court ordered four months of preventive detention against Camacho. His defense has described this decision as an “arbitrary resolution” and said they will appeal it.
The “Coup d’état I” case is one of the cases in which various opposition figures are being tried —including former interim president Jeanine Áñez— in connection with the political and social crisis that followed the 2019 elections, when it was supposedly a coup against the government of the then president, Evo Morales. Both Áñez and other detainees maintain that there was no such coup since Morales resigned, and affirm that the legal cases are part of a political persecution.
