Under the false thesis of a coup d’état (2019 political crisis), former president Jeanine Añez was arrested and jailed in March 2021.
Almost two years later and based on the same thesis, Luis Fernando Camacho, the governor of the autonomous department with the greatest economic power in Bolivia, was apprehended (state kidnapping) and preventively detained for four months. He is accused of terrorism.
This act, committed by police agents on December 28, revealed the dictatorial drift of the Arce government and provoked a citizen reaction in Santa Cruz, through the blockade of streets, fires in public institutions (Public Ministry, police command and Judiciary, national taxes , among others) and the home of a Minister of State, and clashes with the police.
How can we understand the dictatorial drift of the Bolivian president expressed with the apprehension of an autonomous governor elected by the citizens’ vote?
The apprehension of the governor of Santa Cruz can be understood as indicative of the dictatorial drift of the Bolivian government, since its political rights were not only restricted, but also suppressed.
In other words, from the apex of the pyramid, the central power decided for the political freedom of an autonomous governor without intermediation or institutional counterweights that limit or restrict the abuses of the State’s monopoly of violence.
To understand this high-impact event, which reflects the institutional weakness of democracy in Bolivia, it is pertinent to recognize four factors that configure it: legal, party-political, polarization and citizen self-organization.
According to specialists in the legal field, five illegalities were committed with the seizure of Camacho.
Kidnapping: your right to defense and prior notification has been violated; excessive violence was used and did not have a formal charge, as well as being in the middle of the court holiday; there was no criminal offense, as the alleged offense of terrorism is vague and ambiguous; he was transferred to La Paz when he resides in Santa Cruz; and there was forced disappearance, as their rights to physical freedom, personal integrity, psychological moral integrity and health were violated.
The internal struggle in the MAS between the radical wing of Evo Morales and the renewing wing of Luis Arce deepened to the point of bringing to light allegations of corruption and drug trafficking in the management of both leaders of the party that has governed since 2006. However, the false thesis of a coup d’état in 2019 is common in both wings and leaderships.
Therefore, Camacho’s detention can be translated into a political trophy for the president that symbolizes, within the scope of his false thesis, the fall of the “right-wing oligarchic coup leader” and, consequently, a breath of fresh air with the masses.
From an affective perspective, polarization is a process of permanent conflict between us and them. That is, a scenario in which the governing elites decide to confront and put cooperation aside, question the legitimacy of certain public institutions and provoke conflicts between citizens through issues that divide and mobilize because, strategically, fragmentation is more favorable than the consensus.
Under this conceptual framework, it is clear that the state kidnapping of the governor of Santa Cruz feeds the polarization because it benefits the MAS as a party in government function, which, incidentally, is suffering the constant evolution of an internal division.
The permanent conflict of “us” versus “them” fomented by the ruling elite has been a favorable circumstance for citizen self-organization in Santa Cruz and its political protest against the abuses of central state power.
From October 22 to November 25, 2022, there was a public and private activities strike, with blockades of streets and roads in the department, demanding the rescheduling of the population and housing census before 2025 –the year of the general elections– which reached your objective.
With the arrest and preventive detention of Camacho, the Arce government touched a vein of high ideological and identity sensitivity because it did not respect the investiture of a political representative who won the elections with more than 50% of the votes and embodies the cultural values of the region.
In other words, it ideologically strengthened the historical border between Santa Cruz and the central State, directed from La Paz.
In conclusion, under the false thesis of the coup d’état, which in reality was a political crisis generated by Evo’s resignation and flight after committing electoral fraud, democratic institutions are more weakened than ever by the political behavior of the current national government.
Arce’s dictatorial drift, manifested in the state kidnapping of Camacho (autonomous governor) and the theft of his political freedom, is a terrible political sign for the hope of democratic coexistence and respect for ideological differences in Bolivia.
It is a somber sign that Latin America must take seriously in order to put limits on such a situation.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
