By Daniel Ramos and Monica Machicao
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s socialist government has arrested former interim president Jeanine Anez on Saturday for involvement in a suspected coup in 2019 that rekindled political tensions following deadly protests less than two years ago.
The move marks an increase in hostilities between the current left-wing government and more conservative political opponents who accuse them of ousting long-term leader Evo Morales.
“The political prosecution has begun,” Anez said on Twitter on Friday before her dawn arrest. “The MAS has decided to return to the styles of the dictatorship.”
The Bolivian socialist government, which was back in power in October last year, wants to arrest the flight of officials in Anez’s right-wing former government, as well as the former police and military leaders who they say sparked a coup.
Anez took power at the end of 2019 after Morales resigned amid widespread violent protests against his government over allegations that he stole an election when he ran for an unprecedented – and unconstitutional – fourth term.
Morales and his supporters have long claimed that he was forced into a military coup and that he claimed foreign governments. Morales’ MAS Socialist Party came to power again in October with President Luis Arce at the helm.
The arrests brought swift condemnation by US Human Rights Watch director Jose Miguel Vivanco, who said the warrants contained no evidence to support the claim of ‘terrorism’. “For this reason, they raise legitimate doubts whether it is not a politically motivated process.”
Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo said on Saturday that the public prosecutor had issued a warrant for the arrest of Anez “due to the case of a coup in our country”.
He said the investigation against Anez and her ministers began in December and will follow the right process. He confirmed the arrest along with Anez of her former justice minister, Álvaro Coimbra and former energy minister Rodrigo Guzmán.
“There is no political persecution on our part and we do not fear anyone who thinks otherwise,” he told a news conference. “What the government is doing is making sure that there is justice in our country.”
On Friday night, Anez shared a link to the arrest warrant on social media, which contained her name and that of many of her former cabinet, and said it contained allegations of terrorism and rioting against them.
Morales won the 2019 election, but it was later annulled after international organizations, including the Organization of American States (OAS), claimed it was fraudulent.
Anez rejected the claim that she had helped orchestrate a coup. “It was constitutional succession due to election fraud,” she wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Her 11-month caretaker administration took Bolivia in a very different direction from Morales and even detained members of Morales’ previous government.
Arce, Morales’ former economy minister, won the presidency in a major election, enabling Morales to return from exile.
Last week, Morales tweeted referring to the violence after the 2019 election: ‘For a democracy with human rights, it is important to eradicate acts of violence as in November 2019 and to investigate and present violent groups and their regional leaders in court . . “He did not comment on the arrest of Anez or her ministers.
Bolivian prosecutors also want to arrest two former commanders accused by the current government of involvement in the alleged coup against Morales. The military has urged Morales to resign during the 2019 protests.
A prosecutor on Thursday issued arrest warrants for former police chief Yuri Calderón and former Army commander Williams Kaliman over allegations of terrorism, riots and conspiracy.
(Reporting by Danny Ramos and Monica Machicao; Writing by Adam Jourdan and Aislinn Laing; Edited by Grant McCool, Alexandra Hudson)