Bolivia Gears Up for Trial Against Coup Leader Jeanine Añez

On Thursday, authorities will begin the oral trial against Jeanine Añez, a former Senator who proclaimed herself president of Bolivia during the 2019 coup against President Evo Morales. Her lawyers, however, are seeking to delay the process.

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“The people are waiting for justice”, Communication Vice Minister Gabriela Alcon said, stressing that the victims of the U.S.-backed coup deserve reparation before history.

“This is not just us saying this. That was a recommendation of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), which presented a report stating there must be memory, justice, truth, and reparation.”

Once Bolivia returned to democracy with the inauguration of President Luis Arce in 2020, the GIEI recommended that the authorities investigate the acts of State terrorism that Añez and her "interim government" unleashed against those who protested the coup.

The investigation of the events established that Añez assumed functions that she did not have as a lawmaker and proclaimed herself president of the Senate.

Later, taking advantage of the chaos generated by far-right parties and militias, she proclaimed herself president of the Republic using unconstitutional procedures, which were accompanied by an intense repression that lasted for weeks.

“What happened was a rupture of the constitutional order. Human rights were violated. The population was massacred in Sacaba and Senkata. This cannot go unpunished,” Alcon recalled and rejected versions from the political opposition that accuses the Arce administration of political persecution.

The coup d'état performed in November 2019 had the support of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the mainstream media, both of which still avoid referring to the Añez regime as a "de facto government."

A few hours before her trial began, former dictator Añez declared herself on a hunger strike , as reported by Freddy Morales, the teleSUR correspondent in Bolivia.