Bolivia seeks to pass a law that would criminalize protests with up to 25 years in prison

The Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) bench denounced this week that bill number 280, presented by the socialist Government of Luis Arce, named “Law for the Strengthening of the Fight against the Legitimization of Illicit Profits”, criminalizes and penalizes social protests.

“The way the criminal type of terrorism is written criminalizes social protest.”

“Any group of people making a social protest can be accused by prosecutors and judges who respond to the MAS and by denunciations of the Government”, denounced the opposition congressman Carlos Alarcón.

“They would be intimidating some sector of the population with the objective of not carrying out an act of the national Government, and if this is done through an action that restricts liberties, this would be considered (an act of) terrorism with a punishment of 20 to 25 years in prison and seizure or confiscation of the assets of the people who are condemned without even having an executed sentence,” he concluded.

Since the return of MAS to power by the hand of Luis Arce, Evo Morales’ henchman, the Bolivian nation has turned into a brutal dictatorship where the main political opponents are behind bars.

First, Jeanine Añez, the former president and Evo Morales’ main rival.

Then it was several civic leaders, and most recently, the opposition leader and current governor of the department of Santa Cruz, the right-wing Luis Camacho.

With no possibility of appeal and no real charges against them, Camacho, Añez, and so many more became the prison population of a country that fell into the same path as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

Now, with this law, he will seek to transfer the political persecution to the leaders and anyone who seeks to protest.

Law 280 is a response to the so-called “damned law 218”, which between October and November 2021, generated rejection and a wave of protests against the Government by productive sectors and social organizations throughout the country.

The pressure measures forced the Government to repeal the law.

“This is the one that is replacing the famous Bill 218, which failed a year ago. What is the problem? The problem is that with four penal figures, they want to implement a dictatorship in the country”, said Alarcón.

This bill modifies the penalties of the Criminal Procedure Code for terrorism, financing terrorism, legitimizing illicit profits and seizure, and confiscating assets to cover people arrested protesting against the Government.

Article two, which modifies these criminal types, in its point II, refers to terrorism and the sanctions of this criminal type under the following wording:

“The person who intimidates, places or maintains in a state of alarm or collective panic the population or a sector of it, to subvert the constitutional order, overthrowing the constitutionally elected government or forcing a national or foreign government or international organization to perform or refrain from performing any act, using one or several of the following conducts, will be punished with deprivation of liberty from 20 to 25 years and confiscation of the goods that are product or instrument of the crime,” reads the draft of Law 280.

There are seven paragraphs detailing these criminal conducts, which include an article that interprets protests as the “execution of actions to cause death, injuries or restriction of people’s freedom”, raising their respective sentences to 20 to 25 years of imprisonment.

It also raises the penalties for any action, individual or collective, that includes:

• detonating explosive devices against public or private property;
• seizing an aircraft, means of land transportation, or vessel by violence or threat;
• detaining another person in hostage condition and threatening his life;
• executing an act of violence against one or more persons at an airport, causing injury or death, destroying or causing serious damage to the installation of an airport or a vessel.

The bill will be discussed in the Constitution Committee on April 4, and massive protests are expected in the country as the legislation moves through Congress.

It should be noted that Santa Cruz has been protesting for months due to the arbitrary detention of its governor.

The exchange rate appreciated to record levels and appears completely unsustainable. International reserves have been reduced by almost US$13 billion since 2015, and the exchange rate tension is beginning to destabilize the country’s financial situation.

With information from La Derecha Diario