Police on Wednesday detained Luis Fernando Camacho, the main opposition leader in Bolivia who is also governor of the Santa Cruz region, prompting social unrest.
Camacho was detained as part of a case in which he is accused of leading what the government calls a coup in 2019, the Bolivian chief prosecutors’ office said.
Opposition leaders challenge the coup label, saying that those events were only protests that led to the resignation of then-Bolivian president Evo Morales.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The governor’s allies took to the streets, blocking roads in Santa Cruz as well as a highway that joins the region with the rest of the country. Photographs posted on social media showed long lines at gas stations amid worries that the renewed unrest could lead to shortages.
It took several hours for official word on what charges led to the detention of Camacho, whose region is Bolivia’s wealthiest and a stronghold of the opposition.
Earlier, Bolivian Minister of Government Carlos Eduardo del Castillo wrote on social media: “We inform the Bolivian people that police have fulfilled a detention order against Mr Luis Fernando Camacho.”
Photo: AFP
Shortly after the action, the Santa Cruz governorship said in a news release that Camacho was “kidnapped in an absolutely irregular police operation and was taken to an unknown location.”
Camacho was detained near his home, the news release said.
Several opposition leaders also quickly spoke up against the detention, including former Bolivian president Carlos Mesa, who called it a “violent and illegal kidnapping.”
The prosecutors’ office denied the detention was anything of the sort or political persecution, saying it was done under an order issued in October and stemmed from proceedings that began in 2020 with the “full knowledge” of the governor.
Camacho has repeatedly denied all accusations against him, saying he is the victim of political persecution.
He has refused to undergo questioning by prosecutors, saying there is a lack of guarantees of fair treatment.
Video of the arrest posted on social media showed Camacho handcuffed on the side of the road alongside law enforcement officers holding firearms.
Martin Camacho, the governor’s lawyer, told local newspaper El Deber that his client was being taken to the capital, La Paz, to answer questions in cases opened against him.
Video posted on social media showed dozens of his supporters descending on two local airports to try to impede the governor’s transfer, although it was unclear whether he was still there.
The government has launched several judicial actions against Luis Fernando Camacho, including one for having called for a strike last month against the national administration of Bolivian President Luis Arce, an action that lasted 36 days.
He is facing accusations of sedition, treason and corruption, among others.
Luis Fernando Camacho is the leader of the opposition alliance Creemos (“We Believe”).
His role as head of the opposition was cemented last month, when he led the strike.
The action pressed demands that a national census be carried out next year, which would likely give Santa Cruz more tax revenue and seats in the Bolivian Congress, and therefore more influence in the country’s political decisions.
Luis Fernando Camacho was also a leader in protests in 2019 that forced Morales from power following elections that the Organization of American States said were marred by fraud. Morales was seeking his fourth consecutive re-election.
The 2019 protests led to social unrest that resulted in 37 deaths and pushed Bolivia into its most serious institutional crisis of the past few years.
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