Bolivia: Detained governor Luis Fernando Camacho says he won’t surrender to government

Santa Cruz governor and opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho, who was arrested and charged with terrorism over a trial linked to the 2019 Bolivian crisis, assured this Sunday that he would not surrender or bow to the government of President Luis Arce, whom he accused of being a “dictatorship”. “.

Staff Camachowho manages his social media since his arrest, published a handwritten letter in which he himself refers to his imprisonment, the state of his health and his duties in case any circumstance leads to his death.

“To tell my people that every day I am stronger than ever and that in spite of my illness (…) this will by no means be an occasion or pretext to sell or negotiate my principles” , he said in one of the snippets.

governor Santa Cruz He suffers from a chronic condition which, as one of his lawyers explained, “affects his blood vessels”, for which he needs treatment and which, despite being a “closed topic”, came to light due to his imprisonment.

“What I make clear is that either because of my illness or any other cause that caused my death, he will have a first and last name, Louis Arce Katakora”, – he assured, pointing to the responsibility of the head Bolivian state.

He also mentioned that his time in prison, which he blames on the government, will not make him give up or bow down, and called the administration official movement towards socialism (MAS) as “dictatorship”.

arrest and protests

Last Wednesday, Policeman arrested Camacho and stepped up the operation to transfer him from the east Santa Cruz a Worldin the west of the country on charges of terrorism in a case called “coup de Condition I”, among criticisms of this procedure.

The case was presented at the end of 2020 by a former MP FURTHER against the 2019 protests that denounced electoral fraud in that year’s derailed elections and led to the resignation of the then president Evo Moraleswho condemned the “coup” against him.

Early on Friday morning, after many hours of hearing, the judge ordered him to be detained for four months. Camacho in a maximum security prison 35 kilometers from Worldin the middle of the Altiplano and almost 4000 meters high.

This Saturday the Governor Santa Cruz He suffered from decompensation, due to which his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to transfer him to a medical center and give him the necessary medicines for his illness.

In a statement Main department of the penitentiary regime He said that on Saturday a medical board assessed his health and concluded that his “health is stable” and “does not require specialized treatment.”

However, the prison authorities indicated that the permanent presence of a doctor and a nurse was allowed in the prison for his treatment.

Arrest and detention Camacho triggered several protests Santa Cruzin which protesters demanding their freedom clashed with police who responded with tear gas.

This resulted in destruction and fires in various government offices at the national level and in the governor’s office. Santa CruzThus, the government and public organizations encouraging the protests blamed these events on each other.

(As reported by EFE)