Bolivia’s ex-interim president Áñez transferred to hospital in El Alto, defense denounces

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Carolina Ribera alerted about her mother’s transfer to Del Norte Hospital, located in the city of El Alto, near La Paz, “without knowing the medical reasons.”

Later, one of Áñez’s attorneys Norka Cuéllar denounced the ex-president’s “irregular transfer,” currently in pre-trial detention in a prison in La Paz.

Cuéllar reported that Áñez was transferred for a CAT scan, but that no information was provided to her family or her defense.

“How can they take her to Del Norte Hospital, she has high blood pressure, the hospital is located at an altitude of 4,100 meters,” Cuéllar said.

Likewise, Jorge Valda, another of the ex-president’s attorneys, maintained that neither her defense nor her family were notified about Áñez’s transfer and that the decision to take her to a hospital in El Alto is “a direct attempt against her life” since they know that she suffers from “chronic arterial hypertension.”

The defense denounced that these “events” of transferring Áñez have become recurrent in recent weeks, during which the ex-president has been taken to different hospitals due to her deteriorating health condition, with some last minute changes.

DENUNCIATION REGARDING HER HEALTH

The opposition bench Creemos this Wednesday announced that they will lodge denunciations with international human rights organizations to expose the health condition and the “humiliating” treatment Áñez is receiving.

Senator Centa Rek said that denunciation reports will be sent to the Human Rights Council, the Organization of American States’ (OAS) Human Rights Commission, the European Parliament, Amnesty International and the European Union.

The reports are intended to “draw the attention” of these international bodies to the “irregular situations” occurring in the country and that “human rights, health and life violations” are being committed.

“The state of health (of Áñez) is critical, she is being humiliated rather than receiving medical attention,” Rek said.

Áñez completed 5 months in detention last week after being charged with crimes such as terrorism, sedition and conspiracy in the so-called “coup d’état” case for events during the 2019 political and social crisis.

Despite the fact that her defense has repeatedly requested that she be allowed to defend herself at liberty, Justice has ordered an extension of her preventive detention first from 4 to 6 months and then for an additional 6 months.

The current Bolivian government led by Luis Arce maintains that a coup d’état was carried out in 2019 against the then president Evo Morales, while the opposition assures that his resignation was the consequence of electoral fraud in his favor in the failed general elections that were later annulled.