By Gustavo A Maranges on January 1, 2023
Luis Camacho
2022 ended in Bolivia with a complex political scenario. On December 28, National Police forces arrested Santa Cruz Province governor Luis Fernando Camacho after an arrest warrant was issued against him almost two months ago, based on his direct involvement of the 2019 coup d’état. He is also at least partially responsible for the Sacaba and Senkata massacres, where law enforcement officers killed 20 Bolivians by gunshots.
According to the documents presented by the Bolivian authorities, Camacho is charged with sedition and terrorism and will face the process from the Chonchocoro maximum security prison, where he will remain for at least four months. This last measure was issued by a court in La Paz on the 29th, after a seven and a half hour virtual audience.
After Camacho’s detention, a group of demonstrators vandalized the Departmental Prosecutor’s Office and even tried to take over the police station where the governor was temporarily jailed. The police have contained the demonstrations tightly following the principle of proportionality, which explains why no serious injuries or deaths have been reported so far, as it happened during the 2019 coup d’état.
On the other hand, Government Minister Carlos E. del Castillo recently stated nine demonstrators have been charged for violence and are now imprisoned. It also contrasts with what happened in 2019, when mass incarcerations of protesters became a daily practice. That is to say, these are not comparable procedures, especially if constitutionality is defended instead of the interests of an elite willing to crush democracy to get in control.
But even if bad memory prevails, we only have to glance at Peru, where real repression is ongoing. Even the worst reports about Bolivia are no comparison to do with Peru’s police and military repression. The facts speak for themselves.
The corporate media have given wide coverage to Bolivia lately without failing to show its bias. They speak of Camacho’s “alleged involvement in the coup d’état,” although he boasted at the time of having personally taken the letter of resignation to Evo Morales and that both he and his father negotiated with the police and the military their complicit passivity during 2019 unrest. If this is not a confession, I don’t know what is, but this “detail” is left out.
They have also repeatedly leveled accusations of “political persecution” and “kidnapping” when it is clear that the police only obeyed a court rule. It fits their reports about the vandalism of some of Camacho’s followers. It is a storytelling line that tries to show a government acting outside the law and repressing demonstrators who demand justice, which is exactly the opposite of what is happening.
However, little or nothing has been mentioned about the social movements’ peaceful demonstrations taking place in the capital and Cochabamba Province to demand Camacho’s prosecution for his responsibility in the events of the coup d’état. Of course, this does not fit into the history they are attempting to write and may also go unnoticed, just like the rest of the “details.”
The media silence part of Camacho’s story
Two months ago, the Bolivian right-wing, represented by Camacho and supported by the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz, organized a campaign to foster instability in one of the richest regions of the country. As a result of it, protests and strikes demanding greater autonomy for Santa Cruz burst practically out of nowhere only days after the arrest warrant against Camacho was issued. Behind all of this is a co ordinated attempt to undermine the progressive Arce government.
This detail has remained in the shadows since it explains why the governor was not immediately jailed despite the strong evidence against him. This tailored maneuver not only bought time for the right wing, connected to the oligarchy, but also backed up their story about an “opposition leader persecuted for his political actions,” which blurred the real crimes of one of its most valuable assets. Under this political cover, Camacho is nothing but a criminal whose political affiliation matters little to the relatives of his victims.
Today, when it is evident that nothing prevented justice from finally reaching Camacho, statements come out about his sudden “delicate state of health” and alleged deprivation of medical attention by the authorities. Curiously, just a few days ago, he was publicly haranguing audiences looking like the picture of health. However, as soon as he was arrested, without mistreatment, a sudden “delicate state of health” emerged. If it sounds familiar it is because it was the same thing that happened to his coup partner, Janine Añez, after her arrest.
It is understandable that Camacho and Añez, at the time, would have had health issues after the arrest since it must be terrible to feel the strength of the people’s justice over them, especially for those who thought they were immune.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – US