You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide: Police Discover Bolivian Ex-Caretaker President Añez Under the Bed

The Bolivian government announced on Saturday the arrest of Jeanine Añez, former caretaker president who took over power in November 2019 after former Bolivian leader Evo Morales resigned under pressure from the military and fled the country.

Former interim Bolivian president Jeanine Añez was discovered cowering in a box under the bed when she was arrested by police in the early hours of Saturday reported El Deber.

The politician was detained as part of a raid on her relatives’ home in the city of Trinidad, Beni province.

Bolivian police say they found Jeanine Añez hiding *in a box* after hours searching the city of Trinidad, Beni.

When she was not at her home, many feared that she had fled to Brazil. However, she was still in her city, she had failed to leave in time. pic.twitter.com/00UmMdxP7s

— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) March 13, 2021

​As a result of the operation, police detained 3 people, including the politician’s daughter.

Bolivian television also aired images of the arrest of former energy minister Rodrigo Guzman and former justice minister Alvaro Coimbra.

The ex-caretaker president will now be prosecuted for actions that former president of the country Evo Morales had denounced as "abuse and political persecution". On Saturday, Bolivian police transferred Jeanine Añez to La Paz for her to testify in an ongoing coup d’état probe.

Por justicia y verdad para las 36 víctimas fatales, los más de 800 heridos y más de 1.500 detenidos ilegalmente en el golpe de Estado. Que se investigue y sancione a los autores y cómplices de la dictadura que saqueó la economía y atentó contra la vida y la democracia en Bolivia.

— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) March 13, 2021

​An arrest warrant for her was issued as part of the prosecution’s investigation into the events in the country in late October-November 2019. At the time, large-scale popular demonstrations forced former President Evo Morales to resign in events the prosecution considers a coup.

Bolivia's former interim President Jeanine Anez, center, who has been detained, is escorted by Government Minister Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo, right, and Bolivian Police Commander Jhonny Aguilera, at the military airport in El Alto, Bolivia, Saturday, March 13, 2021.

© AP Photo / Juan Karita

According to the court filing shared by Bolivian news outlet Kawsachun News, Añez and nine other senior officials from her administration are charged with ‘terrorism, sedition and conspiracy’.

Añez earlier went on Twitter to say that "the political persecution has begun".

Jeanine Añez pide a la @OEA_oficial y a la @UEenBolivia que envíen observadores, frente al plan del gobierno del MAS para instalar una dictadura en Bolivia. pic.twitter.com/EWwO1qkXwM

— Jeanine Añez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) March 13, 2021

Then-opposition vice-speaker of the Senate, Jeanine Añez, became interim president after Evo Morales resigned as president, along with most of his ministers, and fled Bolivia in November 2019, under pressure from the military.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales with leaders of his MAS-IPSP party and social movements on Tuesday November 17 2020

© Evo Morales Ayma

The Bolivian opposition, led by Carlos Mesa, had decried mass violations during the October 2019 vote.

As power in the country was assumed by Añez, members of the Mas (Movement Toward Socialism) party accused her of being in cahoots with police and military figures to engineer Evo Morales’ overthrow.

Jeanine Añez subsequently left office in early November when Luis Arce from the Movement for Socialism (MAS) took office after a in a landslide election on 18 October.

Morales applauded Arce's victory by saying that it was a "great triumph of the people," returning to Bolivia in November 2020.