April 19, 2023
Jeanine Añez in front of the images of the repression in El Alto in 2019. | photo: @AbyaYalaBolivia
On Monday, Bolivian Prosecutors filed a criminal charge against Jeanine Añez for the “Senkata Massacre”, a case in which the leader of the coup-born administration can receive up to 30 years in prison for crimes of genocide, homicide and serious injuries.
On November 19, 2019, a week after the U.S.-backed coup d’état against President Evo Morales, soldiers and police forcefully attacked Indigenous peoples, workers, and students who had blocked a highway in the city of Senkata in El Alto.
In an attempt to contain the massive demonstrations, the security forces used live ammunition on citizens, which resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people.
Years later, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, which was appointed by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), estimated that at least 80 citizens were also injured.
When these events occurred, Senator Añez, who had proclaimed herself president of the Republic with the support of the far-right militias and parties, maintained absolute control of the Bolivian State.
Subsequently, the Añez administration justified the violent actions arguing that the Bolivian security forces sought to prevent a “terrorist attack.”
Once this Andean country returned to democracy in 2020, however, three former defense ministers, five military officers, and a senior police commander were arrested on charges relating to the Senkata Massacre.
On Monday, when presenting the accusation before El Alto First Criminal Court, the Prosecutor’s Office also requested that Añez be preventively detained for six months in the Miraflores prison while the investigations progress.
In the indictment, the Bolivian prosecutors indicated that Añez was responsible for the deaths in Senkata because she issued Decree 4078, which authorized joint operations between the Armed Forces and the Police, guaranteeing them the disproportionate use of force.
Source: Telesur, translation Resumen Latinoamericano