The Bolivian Court Recognized the Legal Dismissal of Kamacho

• Kamacho was dismissed after more than two years of detention.
• The court declared the continuation of his detention under guard illegal.
• The elections on August 17 changed the political landscape of Bolivia.

La-Paz, Bolivia – The Bolivian Court ruled on the dismissal of the opposition leader Luis Fernando Kamacho, who had spent more than two years in pre-trial detention for a conservative politician. This decision became a turning point for his supporters, who had long criticized his detention as politically motivated.

Kamacho, the governor of the northern province of Santa-Cruz, spent two years and eight months behind bars for allegations related to his involvement in the nationalist protests against the stolen elections of 2019. He gained popularity when he led protests against the socialist president Evo Morales, who recently resigned from his post.

The announcement of Kamacho's dismissal came after the elections on August 17, which signaled the end of nearly 20 years of leftist rule under the leadership of the "Movement Towards Socialism" (MAS) party. In October, there will be a presidential runoff, in which the centrist Rodolfo Paz and right-wing former president Jorge Quiroga will compete to secure a right-wing entry into the country's politics.

The court also upheld the unconditional dismissal of Marco Antonio Pumari, another opposition leader who had been detained since 2021. After more than ten hearings, the court granted Kamacho home arrest with the possibility of work, allowing him to return to his duties as governor of Santa-Cruz.

At the same time, outside the court in La-Paz, protesters who consider Kamacho responsible for the deaths of 37 people after his resignation demanded justice. "Justice must be uncompromising, whoever is guilty must be punished," stated a representative of the victims.

The division of political forces in Bolivia demonstrates deep divides, particularly through judicial decisions that have provoked tensions among different groups of the population.

Tags: Politics