Bolivia: Camacho Embraces the Right to Silence in 'Coup I' Case

On Wednesday, the Bolivian Attorney General's Office announced that Santa Cruz Governor Luis Fernando Camacho will embrace the "right to silence" while awaiting a precautionary hearing.

RELATED:

Bolivia: Police Arrest Santa Cruz Governor

The authorities have not yet set a date for his precautionary hearing. It is not yet known whether Camacho will be able to defend himself in freedom or from jail. Prosecutor Jorge Nina, however, will request his preventive detention.

Santa Cruz governor is the main accused by the Bolivian justice for the acts of violence and death that took place during the U.S.-backed coup d'état that occurred in 2019, when right-wing organizations and the army forced the resignation of then-president Evo Morales.

Currently, Camacho is detained at police facilities in La Paz city, after being transferred by air from the department of Santa Cruz.

The tweet reads, "This is how the Santa Cruz prosecutor's office was left after being set on fire by groups that respond to Governor Luis Fernando Camacho. Over 30 vehicles were left as scrap metal."

Camacho was arrested for the "Coup I" case, which is being investigated by prosecutor Omar Mejillones. This case refers to the events that prompted the 2019 coup and the seizure of power by the then senator Jeanine Añez, who proclaimed herself President of Bolivia.

On Wednesday, the victims of the 2019 repression, as well as the relatives of the citizens who died in the Senkata and Sacaba massacres, set up a vigil outside the Special Force to Fight Crime (FELCC) in La Paz, where the governor Santa Cruz is detained.

Meanwhile, far-right groups unleashed a wave of violence in Santa Cruz City in rejection of Camacho's arrest. Local media reported that they burned the building of the Departmental Prosecutor's Office and several vehicles.