Bolivian indigenous politician who filed claim of “coup” denies she is a puppet of MAS

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Lidia Patty, a former deputy of Evo Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), filed a complaint for sedition, terrorism, and conspiracy against those she considers were the promoters of the political and social crisis of 2019 before the Prosecutor’s Office in November last year, which has been taking some responsibilities.

Opponents such as the elected governor of Santa Cruz Luis Fernando Camacho, and his father José Luis, former military and police chiefs, were named parties in the lower court case that later included as defenders the former interim president Jeanine Áñez and several of her former collaborators, some in prison while others are in hiding.

“I AM NOT A PUPPET”

“They say that I am a puppet, that I am a marionette, that they manage me, that I am just an object”, mentioned Patty in an interview with Efe, because of the accusations that she made come from the “right” and that she assured are not true.

The former legislator mentioned that “at no time” has she received orders from her party MAS or the former president Morales to file the complaint or expand it as happened once, but that everything is based on what she saw and on the premise that “she would have been judged” by her people or branded as a “coup leader” if she did not do anything.

Patty justified that her denunciation took place a year after the events. As a parliamentarian, following the legislative “procedures”, she proposed processes for responsibilities in the previous Parliament, a petition that “has not been viable”. She later followed the course of the ordinary justice system.

Precisely, this process against Áñez and some of her former ministers is based on their actions as legislators and in the exercise of the interim Government, such as the deaths of Sacaba (Cochabamba) and Senkata (El Alto), which, according to legal experts, should follow a special trial of responsibilities.

THE SIGNS OF THE “COUP D’ÉTAT

One of the deep dilemmas in Bolivia is whether the 2019 crisis was a “coup d’état” as the new government and MAS maintain, or if, in reality, everything was activated as a result of an alleged electoral fraud backed by the audit carried out by the Organization of American States (OAS) which identified irregularities in the elections in which Morales was declared the winner.

In Patty’s opinion, the alleged coup was not gestated in the days of protests against Morales from October 21 to November 10, 2019, but rather the opponents “have planned it since 21-F” or the 2016 referendum that denied the government the modification of the Constitution to enable yet another reelection of Morales.

The former deputy argues that the “coup d’état” signs were the “self-proclamation” of Áñez as interim president before a Parliament without many of its members present, and the obstacles placed by the Government at that time to prevent the majority of MAS legislators from entering that and other sessions.

AN INVESTIGATION THAT WILL SHOW MORE

Patty’s denunciation has been focused mainly on the former civic leader Camacho. However, his home region has closed ranks through its civic organizations to prevent what has been considered a “political persecution”.

Camacho’s detention “is in the hands of justice (…) justice will decide who is to blame and who has committed a crime, I have only filed a complaint”, she stressed after being consulted about the actions of the Prosecutor’s Office against the main accused.

Patty said that the investigation “will untie the knots that exist now” about those who she considers participated in the alleged “coup d’état” since many people have yet to testify, among them witnesses, including former President Morales and several of his former ministers, as indicated in the hearings held on the case.

The former legislator said that there were countries, several Bolivian NGOs, and institutions that “have been participants” and that it must be known “who have financed” what she considered a “coup d’état” against former President Morales.

Source: Swissinfo