With Lula da Silva in power, Bolivia will ask Brazil to extradite former officials

The victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was well received by the government of Luis Arce, mainly because it opened the possibility of extraditing the former Minister of Defense, Luis Fernando López, and former police and Army chiefs.

The Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), Bolivia’s ruling party, celebrated Lula da Silva’s victory in the presidential elections.

“We congratulate our brother president-elect (with 50.9% of votes) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his triumph. We are sure that his victory brings better days for the people of Brazil,” MAS deputy Gualberto Arispe told Sputnik.

In addition to the ideological coincidences between Arce’s government and Lula da Silva, the victory of the Workers’ Party candidate represents the possibility of extraditing officials of former de facto president Jeanine Áñez (2019-2020) based in Brazil.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that it would initiate the procedure to extradite Fernando López, former Minister of Defense of Áñez; Yuri Calderón, Chief of Police during the 2019 coup, and Carlos Orellana, commander of the Armed Forces during that period.

On October 26, Bolsonaro declared that his government would protect López and other former Áñez officials. “As long as I am president, he will not leave Brazil,” the Brazilian president assured the local press.

“The coup perpetrators who have broken the constitutional order and are in asylum in the neighboring country, I am sure they are trembling like mice. We will request the extradition of Mr. López and other coup perpetrators who are there,” assured Arispe.

The congressman evaluated that other people linked to the overthrow of Evo Morales (2006-2019) could also leave the country:

“Luis Fernando Camacho [governor of Santa Cruz] has one less country left to seek asylum. He also has to pay for the events of 2019 and what he is causing now.”

Arispe is referring to the indefinite strike that has been taking place in the department of Santa Cruz since October 22, sponsored by Camacho and the local Civic Committee, which was presided over by the current governor during the days of the 2019 coup.

Santa Cruz is living its version of the apocalypse with no fuel, no waste collection service, and food shortages. The protest is due to the date of the next population and housing census.

While President Arce proposes to do it in 2024, the Santa Cruz civic groups are pushing for it to occur in 2023.

Given the lack of results in the protest, several Santa Cruz social organizations began to mobilize against the strike and demand Camacho’s resignation.

EXTRADITION REACTIVATED

The general secretary of the Attorney General’s Office, Edwin Quispe, referred to Bolsonaro’s statements:

“The fact that the official authority has indicated that he [former minister López] is in this country together with Carlos Orellana and the former general commander of the Bolivian Police makes us reactivate the extradition procedure that we have been initiating since March of this year,” he said to the press on Monday, October 31, after Lula da Silva’s victory.

The extradition request will be formalized only in January 2023, when the new president takes office:

“We understand that Brazil is in a transitory process of government. Once the winner of this political contest takes office, he will surely become aware of the obligations that his country has with ours,” Quispe commented.

Among other crimes, asylum seekers in Brazil are being investigated for a breach of duties, illicit enrichment, negotiations incompatible with the State, and terrorism.

MAS Senator Lucy Escobar told Sputnik: “Any person who has broken the law and committed crimes has to answer to justice. No one can protect them, nor can other countries intercede in this situation.”

“There can be no interference from other leaders. Justice must be left to do its job so that the violations of rights and the crimes they have committed are judged accordingly,” he said.

López, as well as former Minister of Government Arturo Murillo – currently detained in the USA for money laundering – left Bolivia in November 2020, days before the inauguration of President Arce, winner of that year’s elections with 55.1%.

“In Bolivia, we are happy and content. Let us remember that brother Lula da Silva has been politically persecuted and taken to jail, violating his rights.

“But the people of Brazil have once again given him their vote. Now he has to work for the people who have trusted him,” said the senator.

With information from Sputnik