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Two top military leaders of the de facto coup government who have arrest warrants against them have fled Bolivia to Brazil and Panama as fugitives from the country's justice system.
Bolivia's General Commander of the Police, Jhonny Aguilera, said this Tuesday that the former Ministers of Government and Defense, Arturo Murillo and Fernando López, are currently out of the country. Both former coup government leaders have arrest warrants in the framework of the ongoing investigations into the "Tear Gas" case.
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In an interview with the newscast, Antes de Mediodía on local radio station Radio Fides, the new police chief said that both ex-authorities left the national territory on November 9, one day after President Luis Arce's inauguration and the same day as former president Evo Morales' return to Bolivia after one year in exile. Fernando López is in the neighboring country of Brazil, and Arturo Murillo is in Panama.
Aguilera explained that a timeline was established that allowed for the accreditation of the departure of an official flight on the aircraft FAB-046, which left with four occupants from the Trompillo airport in Santa Cruz to the town of Puerto Suarez and later moved to Corumbá, a Brazilian town.
#Bolivia | The removal of the country's former top military brass is an important step among the changes President Luis Arce has been making after the exit of the de facto government.https://t.co/OX445lDwja
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) November 17, 2020
"And from that moment the administrative steps have been taken that have allowed the authorities to leave our soil; today we are convinced that Brazilian migration authorities have been able to certify to intelligence officials the entry of former Minister of Government Arturo Murillo and former Minister of Defense Luis Fernando López Julio," Aguilera said.
The former Minister Murillo moved to Panama through Copa Airlines, which "happened on November 9," Aguilera stated.
"We still have to establish from these information channels, what are the activities that the former authorities are performing there (abroad), and once we have the information, we will approach the Public Ministry to activate the relevant next steps," he concluded.
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