Bolivia: The Bolivian police have arrested the opposition leader Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho on charges of “terrorism,” a move that can further intensify tensions between the national government and Mr. Camacho’s base in Santa Cruz.
The country’s state attorney’s office confirmed the arrest of Mr. Camacho, the governor of Santa Cruz who assisted in the removal of president Mr. Evo Morales from power in 2019.
The supporters of the governor held protests all over the country against the detention.
According to the office, the arrest was connected to the toppling of former leftist president Mr. Evo Morales in 2019. The arrest warrant accused Mr. Camacho of “terrorism.”
Former president Ms. Carlos Mesa called the arrest a “kidnapping.” “The operation to kidnap the governor was carried out in the streets near his home, as he was returning from his duties,” the Santa Cruz government claimed in a statement.
The state attorney’s office rejected the allegations that the arrest was a kidnapping or political persecution.
The Bolivian interior minister, Mr. Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo, tweeted that Mr. Camacho had been advised to undergo a medical assessment and his health was “stable,” rejecting claims he had been injured.
Mr. Evo Morales supported the arrest by stating that, “Finally, after three years, Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho will answer for the coup d’etat that led to robberies, persecutions, arrests, and massacres of the de facto government.”
