bolivia

Bolivian Ex-President Anez Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison

June 12, 2022 3:14 am

Former president of Bolivia, Jeanine Anez was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in prison, more than a year after her arrest for an alleged plot — dismissed as fictional by many — to remove her rival and predecessor Evo Morales.

Anez, who has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2021, has consistently denounced what she calls political persecution.

The former interim leader will serve 10 years in a women’s prison in La Paz, the administrative capital’s First Sentencing Court announced in a decision that comes three months after her trial began.

Convicted of crimes ‘contrary to the constitution and …

Bolivia To Hold Presidential Vote May 3: Electoral Tribunal

January 4, 2020 3:53 pm

Bolivians will choose a new president May 3, more than six months after a disputed election sparked violent street protests and the resignation of Evo Morales.

Interim leader Jeanine Anez has been overseeing a caretaker government since then, after Morales fled the country for Mexico.

The new presidential election will be “the first Sunday of May, I can let you know that much,” said the vice president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Oscar Hassenteufel.

Once complete, the electoral schedule will include dates for registration of candidates, the campaign timeframe, rules on advertising, and rules on a potential second round.

Bolivia …

Locals Cheer Morales Exit In Ex-Bolivia Leader’s Fiefdom

December 7, 2019 2:01 pm

In the high Andes two hours’ drive from La Paz, the people of Achacachi — long a bastion of ex-president Evo Morales — say they don’t want him back.

The local government headquarters in the main square — with its shattered windows — have been abandoned since 2017. That’s when mayor Edgar Ramos, a member of Morales’ Movement For Socialism (MAS) party, was hounded out of office, accused of corruption.

The local police force and public prosecutors left soon afterwards, and the town of 46,000 situated on the harsh Bolivian Altiplano has been governed by local district committees since.

AFP

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Bolivia’s Women Wrestlers Back In The Ring After Unrest

November 27, 2019 2:42 pm

Wearing a bright green billowing skirt and dainty black velvet flats, Bolivian wrestler Lidia Flores launches herself from the second rope of the outdoor wrestling ring and squashes her hapless male opponent.

Suspended for two weeks as anti-government protests and blockades rocked El Alto, a sprawling city overlooking La Paz, the cholitas luchadores are back on the canvas at Sharks of the Ring wrestling club.

The raucous crowd of elderly men, young women and parents with small children heckle and hurl insults as the indigenous women wrestlers, wearing traditional multilayered “pollera” skirts and long braids, flip, kick, punch and …

Bolivia Interim Leader Threatens Morales With Charges

November 17, 2019 3:01 pm

Bolivia’s interim leader Jeanine Anez said Friday that exiled ex-president Evo Morales would have to “answer to justice” if he returns, as five of his supporters were killed in fierce clashes with security forces.

Morales resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of Bolivia’s security forces following weeks of protests over his disputed re-election that has seen 15 people killed and more than 400 wounded.

“He knows he has to answer to justice. There is electoral crime. There are many allegations of corruption in his government,” Anez told journalists in La Paz.

The former president has said he …

Bolivia Election Audit Chief Makes Surprise Resignation

November 2, 2019 10:37 am

The head of an international body auditing Bolivia’s disputed election result resigned unexpectedly on Friday, casting further uncertainty over a vote that sparked deadly riots and delivered President Evo Morales a fourth term.

The chief of the technical mission from the Organisation of American States (OAS), Mexican Arturo Espinosa, announced he is stepping down from the role just a day after beginning the review of the controversial poll.

“I have decided to withdraw from the audit so as not to compromise its impartiality. I should have informed the OAS about previous public statements (declarations) about the electoral process in Bolivia,”

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