The Bolivian government announced on Saturday the arrest of Jeanine Áñez, who will be prosecuted for the overthrow of Evo Morales in November 2019, in an action described by the former president as "abuse and political persecution".
"I inform the Bolivian people that Mrs. Jeanine Añez has already been apprehended and at this moment she is in the hands of the Police," Eduardo del Castillo, Minister of Internal Affairs, wrote on his Twitter account.
Informo al pueblo boliviano que la señora Jeanine Añez ya fue aprehendida y en este momento se encuentra en manos de la Policía.#Justicia
— Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo Del Carpio (@EDelCastilloDC) March 13, 2021
The arrest, at a time and place not immediately disclosed, was announced hours after the release of an arrest warrant issued by two prosecutors who are processing a coup complaint against those responsible for the 2019 democratic disruption, from which the administration emerged.
Añez left office in early November when Luis Arce from the Movement for Socialism (MAS) took office, having won in a landslide election on October 18. The vote was repeatedly postponed, sparking protests and fueling fears of a turn even further from democracy.
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales resigned as president and left Bolivia in November 2019, under pressure from the military, after the Bolivian opposition, led by Carlos Mesa, claimed that there were mass violations during the October 2019 vote. Most of Bolivia’s senior officials resigned in his wake. Power in the country was assumed by the opposition vice-speaker of the senate, Jeanine Anez. Morales called the events a coup.
