Luis Fernando Camacho, opposition governor of the Santa Cruz region, Bolivia’s economic locomotive, was arrested on Wednesday by police on the orders of a prosecutor, said government minister (Interior), Eduardo del Castillo.

“We have informed the Bolivian people that the Bolivian police have complied with the arrest warrant against Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho,” del Castillo said, without specifying the crimes he is accused of.

The Santa Cruz government immediately came out to denounce that Camacho was “kidnapped in a police operation utterly irregular and taken in an unknown direction”.

“The governor’s seizure operation was carried out in the streets around his home when he returned after carrying out management activities,” says the Governor’s Office of the largest region in the country, historically at odds with La Paz and especially since the government of Evo Morales.

The Santa Cruz authorities indicated they did not know Camacho’s whereabouts and blamed the government of President Luis Arce, of Evo Morales’ Movement for Socialism, “for the physical safety and life” of the opposition leader.

tension at the airport

National and departmental lawmakers from Camacho’s party, Creemos, arrived at Viru Viru International Airport and also at El Trompillo International Airport, both in Santa Cruz, along with several followers of the governor to prevent their transfer to La Paz.

A video shared on social media proves it the vehicle in which the governor of Santa Cruz was traveling was intercepted by at least two men on a motorcycle and tear gas was fired at him to force him to stop.

Then he can be heard getting out of the vehicle coughing as some men yell at him to get off the ground amidst insults.

Leader of the Anti Evo Morales

Luis Fernando Camacho gained notoriety in 2019 by leading protests in Santa Cruz over allegations of alleged electoral fraud in favor of then-President Evo Morales in that year’s failed general election.

That conflict led to Morales’ resignation from the presidency, which for the current Arce government and the ruling party was an alleged “coup” against him.

Camacho was denounced for the alleged coup against Morales in a trial for which former interim president Jeanine Áñez is jailed.

In addition to this process, there are also numerous complaints against him by the ruling party for the 36-day strike carried out in Santa Cruz between October and November of this year to demand the timely completion of the population census.

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