Bolivia Prosecutor Seeks 6 Months Pre-trial Detention For Opposition Leader Camacho

Bolivian prosecutors are requesting six months of pre-trial detention for right-wing opposition Governor Luis Fernando Camacho in connection to 2019 political turmoil, state prosecutor Omar Mejillones said Thursday.

Camacho was arrested on Wednesday and taken to political capital La Paz, escalating tensions between his wealthy agricultural base in the region of Santa Cruz and the national government.

Prosecutors have charged Camacho with "terrorism" and are also investigating crimes, including alleged breach of duty, misuse of influence and attacks on the president and high-ranking state dignitaries, Mejillones said.

The charges are connected to the ouster of former leftist President Evo Morales in November 2019. Morales had declared victory in a disputed presidential election that would have given him a fourth straight term but ended up fleeing the country amid fiery protests, some of which were led by Camacho, a right-wing civic leader.

More recently, Camacho, who finished third in the 2020 presidential contest, has backed protests in Santa Cruz demanding the national government proceed with a delayed census, which would likely give his region more tax revenues and seats in Congress.

Camacho's communications team on Wednesday posted a statement released by the La Paz prosecutor's office in which Camacho said the accusations against him lacked truth and credibility, and his lawyer Juan Carlos Camacho said he was "unjustly" detained.

On Thursday, Camacho's Twitter account said that authorities had prevented his lawyers from filing a constitutional recourse to free him. A video attached to the tweet alleged his constitutional rights had been breached and that he had been "kidnapped" and taken illegally to La Paz.

Mejillones said Thursday he had "no knowledge" of the lawyers' allegations of being unable to file the recourse.

The state attorney's office has denied the arrest was either a "kidnapping" or politically motivated.

UNEASY CALM

Governments in the region were largely silent on the issue Thursday.

Former President Morales said on Wednesday he hoped Camacho's detention would bring justice after three years.

"Luis Fernando Camacho will answer for the coup d'etat that led to robberies, persecutions, arrests and massacres of the de facto government," Morales tweeted.

Former President Carlos Mesa, an ally of Camacho's who ran against Morales in the 2019 election, told Reuters the case stemmed from "a monumental electoral fraud carried out by Evo Morales" and that the terrorism charge "does not make any sense."

There was an uneasy calm Thursday in Santa Cruz, where signs of damage were visible after protests Wednesday ended with a fire set to the Santa Cruz prosecutor's headquarters.

Public Works Minister Edgar Montano said on Twitter his house in Santa Cruz had been set on fire and robbed. Two were arrested in relation to the crime, Montano said, adding Camacho and his allies would be "responsible for anything that could happen" to him or his family.

The federal prosecutor's office said it would seek the "harshest punishment" for those responsible for damages in Santa Cruz.