Bolivia judge orders pre-trial detention for opposition head

LA PAZ, Bolivia — A judge in Bolivia sentenced opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho to four months of pretrial detention on terrorism charges early Friday, a move that is bound to increase divisions and unrest in the country. “I’ll never give up on this fight for Bolivia’s democracy,” Camacho said during the virtual hearing that took place while he was held in a jail cell at a La Paz police station. “To the Bolivian people I say, we can’t let them impose a dictatorship like in Venezuela and Cuba.” Camacho, leader of the opposition alliance Creemos, was detained on terrorism charges and taken to La Paz, a move that sparked protests that led to clashes with law enforcement and several public offices and cars being set on fire. Morales, who leads the ruling left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo, praised Camacho’s detention and said “the courts should also indict Camacho’s accomplices, so these coup efforts won’t ever be repeated.” Camacho was detained for his repeated failure to appear for questioning by prosecutors, saying he was the victim of political persecution and did not have guarantees of fair treatment. The Bolivian Episcopal Conference also spoke out against Camacho’s detention, characterizing it as a “kidnapping with unprecedented violence.” The leaders of the country’s Catholic Church went on to say that the 2019 coup “never existed and is the result of a false narrative and half-truths” when in reality there was “a peaceful rising up of Santa Cruz’s population when faced with the evident electoral fraud.” Camacho faces numerous accusations of wrongdoing, including for his role in leading a 36-day strike in Santa Cruz against the government this fall.