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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://resumen-english.org/2023/01/bolivia-camacho-playing-the-victim-now-that-justice-has-caught-up-with-him/">resumen-english.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Bolivia: Camacho Playing the Victim Now that Justice has Caught up with Him</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div>By Gustavo A Maranges on January 1, 2023</div><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div id="gmail-wrapper2">
<div id="gmail-attachment_22334" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22334" src="https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1-2-camacho.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="300" height="168"></p><p id="gmail-caption-attachment-22334" class="gmail-wp-caption-text"><font size="1">Luis Camacho</font></p></div>
<p>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. <span id="gmail-more-22333"></span></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>The media silence part of Camacho’s story</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – US</p>
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