Former Bolivian president Áñez taken to hospital for medical check-up

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL  – The former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez, imprisoned since last March, was unexpectedly transferred this Wednesday (11) to a hospital for a “clinical evaluation” after it was learned that the Institute of Forensic Investigations (IDIF) recommended that she undergo cardiological studies.

Áñez was taken to the Hospital del Tórax in La Paz “without the prison authorities informing her family or lawyers,” and she had to notify one of her lawyers with a borrowed telephone, denounced her daughter, Carolina Ribera.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Bolivia

At the hospital, Áñez was seen in a wheelchair, according to images broadcast by local media, and then she was taken back to the Miraflores prison in an ambulance.

The former president got out of the vehicle with difficulty, holding on to a person and under police escort, without giving any statements to the media.

Norka Cuéllar, one of Áñez’s lawyers, told the media that the former president underwent a “medical evaluation” where she was only examined and did not undergo the cardiological studies recommended by the IDIF.

The doctor determined that she should undergo cardiological studies, blood tests, and a “psychiatric evaluation”, added the jurist.

She also said that her medication for hypertension was doubled and denounced that the doctor who treated her did not have access to her medical records.

“We are very concerned about her health, and we demand that the authorities comply with what they themselves ordered,” Cuellar emphasized.

PENITENTIARY REGIME

For his part, the director of the Penitentiary Regime, Juan Carlos Limpias, explained that Áñez was transferred to the hospital “not because of the critical state of her health”, but to “attend to the recommendation made by the IDIF”.

Limpias pointed out that the “specialist cardiologist” who examined the former president confirmed that she suffers from “systemic arterial hypertension and depressive anxiety syndrome” and that there is no need for “any hospitalization”.

“At the moment, the prisoner Jeanine Áñez, according to the evaluation of our doctor arriving at the penitentiary center, is in totally stable health and continues with the medication,” said Limpias.

The director indicated that the family of Áñez takes her food every day and that in case she suffers a “deterioration,” there is an “emergency exit” mechanism.

Luis Guillén, one of Áñez’s lawyers, explained to Efe that the IDIF evaluated the former president on Monday, which concluded with the recommendation that she be transferred to a third-level hospital to undergo cardiological studies.

Guillén indicated that Áñez had lost a lot of weight, cannot keep her balance, is most of the time lying on her bed due to the weakness she presents, and that it is difficult for her to get up.

BACKGROUND

Áñez has been preventively detained since March in a women’s prison in La Paz for the case called “coup d’état” based on allegations of the alleged conspiracy, sedition, and terrorism during the political and social crisis 2019 that resulted in the resignation of Evo Morales from the Presidency.

The ruling party maintains that Morales’ departure from power was a “coup d’état”. At the same time, Morales’ detractors claim that the crisis occurred due to allegations of electoral fraud in his favor in the general elections of that year, which were later annulled.

Initially, Añez was to remain in prison for four months. The court extended the period to six, and a few days ago, a judge extended the preventive detention for another six months.

Áñez’s defense denounced the health situation of the former transitory president on several occasions, who suffers from high blood pressure, hyperventilation, acute stomach pains, decompensation, kidney problems, and depression.

In July, Áñez requested an audience with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to explain her imprisonment situation and inform her of her health situation.

For the “coup d’état” case, which is being investigated at the request of the governmental Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), two of Áñez’s former ministers and several former police and military chiefs are also in preventive detention.