Bolivia: Prosecutor Admits New Genocide Charges Against Añez

On Monday, the Bolivian Prosecutor's Office admitted a new indictment against Jeanine Añez for crimes of genocide, grievous bodily harm, and injury followed by death.

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During protests against the coup-born regime installed in 2019, military and police under Añez's command killed some twenty people during operations in Sacaba (Cochabamba) and Senkata (El Alto). The Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the Supreme Court of Justice initiated the phase of accumulation of antecedents for the study of what happened in these massacres.

On November 15, 2019, workers, farmers and students began a protest in Sacaba to demand that the victory of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) candidate Evo Morales in the presidential elections be respected. Four days later, Bolivians blocked a fuel plant in Senkata to demand an immediate return to democracy.

On both occasions, the military and police killed citizens. The coup-born regime led by Añez, however, argued that the protesters had shot at each other and that the security forces had not used lethal weaponry. Even at the time, this official version was denied by the Ombudsman's Office.

These accusations are part of the "coup d'état" case for which former ministers, officials, soldiers, and police officers are also being criminally prosecuted.

For almost four months, Añez has been detained in La Paz jail as a result of another criminal proceeding in which she is accused of terrorism, sedition, and conspiracy against the Morales administration.

The Bolivian Parliament is also analyzing other accusations against Añez related to the contracting of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan that happened without the approval of the legislators, the approval of a decree against freedom of expression, and the fraudulent extension of the private concession of the Commerce Registry Service.