Bolivian justice extends preventive detention for four months of opposition leader and governor

The First Anticorruption Judge decided Wednesday to extend for four months the preventive detention of the opposition leader and governor of the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz (east), Luis Fernando Camacho, for the case called Coup I, which caused the resignation of Evo Morales to the presidency in October 2019.

The Anticorruption judge, Helmer Laura, argued that sufficient elements were found to follow up on the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, the complainant’s lawyer, and the Attorney General’s Office.

The judge recalled that there are five new crimes against Camacho: the seduction of troops, public instigation to commit a crime, improper use of public goods and services, active bribery, and criminal association.

At the hearing, the judge explained that these crimes also weighed on Marco Antonio Pumari, a former civic leader from Potosí, Camacho’s right-hand man.

The opposition leader was arrested on December 28 last year in the city of Santa Cruz, one of the main leaders who plotted the opposition political movement that ended with the overthrow of Evo Morales in October 2019 after a controversial election amid allegations of fraud.

Following his apprehension, Camacho was transferred to the maximum security prison Chonchocoro, located between El Alto and Viacha, 36 kilometers from La Paz.

The prosecutor assigned to the case, Yulisa Guzmán, issued a series of arguments to extend the Santa Cruz governor’s preventive detention for four months.

In addition, Guzmán stated that Camacho’s release could “hinder the investigation” because a series of declarations of 16 investigated persons, in this case, is still missing.

The State Prosecutor’s Office asked for the admission of some investigative acts, among them the triangulation of calls of all the accused in this case, for which it requested that a report be requested from the telephone companies Viva, Tigo, and Entel.

Meanwhile, the lawyer Martin Camacho, in defense of the governor of Santa Cruz, refuted the arguments of the plaintiffs, pointing out that his client is not “omnipresent” to be able to influence the statements of those under investigation who are detained in prisons, or who are not in the country.

The opposition leader participated in the hearing wearing the governor’s sash and, prior to the ruling, addressed the judge to tell him that several irregularities have been committed in the process against him.

This Saturday, April 30 will be the first four months of preventive detention for the case called “Coup I” and with this extension, the apprehension is expected to last until August, while the process is being processed.

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