During his actual presidency, Anez asked the United States and Great Britain for arms.

The Bolivian government revealed that the interim administration of Janine Anez, weeks before the elections that gave President Louis Ars victory, He demanded that the US and UK provide “equipment and weapons” to “repress the people”.. The Deputy Minister for Citizens’ Security, Roberto Rios, showed the then-authority letters of request for that bag to the corresponding diplomatic headquarters. The case refers to a shipment of weapons and tear gas grenades from Argentina And Ecuador In the dramatic days of the coup against Evo Morales, in November 2019.

Weapons “to defend the integrity of the people”

The first note revealed by Deputy Secretary Rios corresponds to May 8, 2020 It is addressed to Chargé d’Affairs to the United States Embassy, ​​Bruce WilliamsonUnder “Equipment and Armament”. On the first page, the only one known to date, it can be read: “I ask you to fulfill the demand that I mention in the reference to defend the integrity and land of the Bolivian people.”. The same memo notes that it presents “nine sheets of equipment assignment, description, and justification,” which were not in the government ministry’s file.

The September 25, 2020, the Provisional Government of Anez had sent another official note, although this time it was addressed to British Ambassador to Bolivia Jeff Glickin. In it they askedPistols, cartridges, gas bombs, full uniforms, gas masksNight goggles, thermal goggles, binoculars, helmets, suits and protective gear that you consider important Dedicated to the Bolivian police to defend the safety of the peopleits lands and security.

Both letters are signed Former Deputy Minister of Citizen Security, Wilson Santamaria. the Actual, Roberto RiosI mentioned this Tuesday that I am asking for information Through the diplomatic channels of the embassies of the United Kingdom and the United States. According to Rios, the first thing asked are the original notes he sent Agency of the Ministry that reports to the Ministry of Government, in addition to the attachments contained in those documents, which have not yet been identified.

It is also required that we They can state the responses they gave to each of these notes or whether and in what way they attendedThe official said in an interview with TV Bolivia. Rios was surprised that “any purchase of the Bolivian police must arise from a requirement that the police must carry out through a general command.” Secondly , The Ministry’s Agency for Citizen Security Affairs does not have “the powers to order this type of equipment.” which have special tasks that are useful to the Bolivian police.”

Finally, Rios emphasized that the equipment required “is not the equipment that the Bolivian police typically use to deal with conflicts,” which “gives clear indications that All these weapons and equipment requested by the other authorities were likely to be used to oppress the Bolivian peopleAnd the remarkable thing about it is that it was born weeks before the 2020 elections.”

“Assassination attempt”

These apparent efforts to acquire arms ahead of the October 2020 elections, in which Arce was the preferred candidate, are added to the preparations for a second coup involving foreign mercenaries, according to the current government’s account. In June of this year, The Intercept revealed that Bolivia was on the brink of a coup similar to the one that occurred in 2019 against Evo Morales..

The investigation into the US facility, which includes documents and recordings of phone calls that included former Secretary of Defense Luis Fernando Lopez, revealed, A plan to “bring Colombian and Venezuelan killers and paramilitaries” to Bolivia. The goal, apparently, was to prevent a general election or prevent Arce from taking over the presidency of Bolivia, despite winning the election with 55.11 percent of the vote.

In October of this year, the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, stated that he had been able to identify him Paramilitary Forces That Participated in the “Assassination Attempt” in Bolivia in 2020It is also have participated in Haitian President Jovenel Moise dies. They became part of the frustrating operation through the security company CTU (Federal Counter-Terrorism Academy), based in Miami and run by the Venezuelan opponent, Antonio Emmanuel Entriago Valera. members Armed forces Bolivian police were involved in the alleged plot.

Arms shipment from Argentina and Ecuador

This is not the only link with the complaint made by Deputy Minister Rios on Tuesday. In the middle of the year it was learned ñez government got support argentina presidents, Mauricio MacriAnd from Ecuador Lenin MorenoTo transport weapons and tear gas that were used in the repression after the coup. Anti-coup protests at the end of 2019 were concentrated in the Sakapa and Senkata regions, and the Anez government ordered the police and armed forces to suppress them with an apparent drop in ranks.

at that time, The de facto president signed a decree exempting military personnel from criminal responsibility To work in operations to “restore internal order and general stability”. in August, A group of researchers from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) It concluded that during the 2019 crisis in Bolivia there were very serious human rights violations, including “summary executions, massacres, racism, torture and sexual assaults.”