Bolsonaro calls “coup” charge against Bolivia’s ex-president “completely unfounded”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, on Tuesday, March 16th, criticized the arrest of Bolivia’s ex-interim president Jeanine Áñez, during an online meeting of the Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUL). According to the Brazilian, the allegation that she was involved in a coup against then president Evo Morales in 2019 is “completely unfounded.”

“Before addressing the economic issue, it should be noted that the defense and promotion of democracy is one of PROSUL’s basic principles,” Bolsonaro said. In this respect, we are concerned about the events underway in Bolivia, our neighbor and sister country, where ex-president Jeanine Áñez and other officials were arrested under allegations of involvement in a coup, which seems to us completely unfounded.”

In his opening speech at the virtual event, Bolsonaro also said he hoped Bolivia “will fully uphold the rule of law and democratic coexistence.”

Jeanine Áñez was arrested on Saturday, March 13th, accused of having conspired for the resignation of ex-president Evo Morales in 2019. On Sunday she was ordered to be held for four months in pre-trial detention. Five other of Áñez’s ex-ministers were also detained, and the Peruvian government reported that one of these, Roxana Lizárraga, has applied for asylum in Peru.

An attorney and former TV host, Áñez left the government in November after Evo Morales’ ex-economy minister Luis Arce won the presidential election.

In a statement, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated Bolsonaro’s position and recalled that the Brazilian government was the first to support the establishment of an interim government by Jeanine Áñez. The Ministry also rejected accusations from Morales’ allies that he had been the victim of a coup, stating that the ex-president’s resignation “was prompted by the people’s reaction to the attempt at electoral fraud detected by the OAS and EU observation missions.”

“The inauguration of President Áñez occurred within the Constitution, recognized by Bolivian institutions and in accordance with Article 1 of the Ushuaia Protocol. It is also recalled that the government of President Jeanine Áñez called and held free elections and peacefully transferred power to President Luiz Arce,” the statement said.

The charges

Áñez is charged with terrorism, sedition and conspiracy to force Evo Morales to resign. According to prosecutors, she was part of the plan to stage a coup against the ex-president, who resigned in November 2019 amid major social unrest following his re-election.

Opponents from the right-wing and center at the time denounced that Morales had committed fraud in the election. Faced with massive popular protests, the Armed Forces called on Morales to step down, which prompted the then president to resign and exile in Mexico (and later Argentina).

Áñez served as the country’s interim president after Evo’s resignation in 2019. Her administration lasted 11 months and involved the arrest of a number of politicians from the previous government, many of whom were charged with the same crimes now alleged against her.

Source: Veja