Jeanine Anez was elected interim president of Bolivia in 2019 following the resignation of Evo Morales. She was accused of participating in a coup against her predecessor.
Friday's decision by the Court of First Instance of La Paz was that he would be sentenced to a ten-year term of imprisonment. This came three months after the trial began and fifteen months after he was placed in pre-trial custody. Both William Kaliman (ex-head of the armed forces) and Yuri Calderon (police), were sentenced to the same sentence.
Jeanine Anez (54), was convicted for "dereliction or duty" and "decisions against the Constitution and laws". After the resignation of Evo Morales (2006), she is accused of having accepted the presidency in an illegal manner in November 2019. This was against the background of massive demonstrations related to alleged electoral fraud that were denounced in the Organization of American States.
She announced that she would appeal against a possible conviction.
A second trial is still pending for the former head of state, who was also interim president. Following complaints from relatives of victims of the repression that took place at the end 2019 in Evo Morales' strongholds, the accusation of genocide was filed. According to an independent expert group, 22 people were killed.
This right-wing woman stated that Evo Morales was being reversed by the court in her last statement.
This former television presenter and trained lawyer was almost unknown when she took power. She declared herself interim president of the Andean nation on November 12, 2019, just two days after President Morales' resignation.
The opposition cried fraud after the October 2019 presidential election, during which Evo Morales was running to win a fourth term. The vote was canceled after an explosion of violence.
Jeanine Anez, second vice-president of Senate, had taken office with Bible in hand, and was adorned with the presidential sash. This was due to the power vacuum created by the resignations of Evo Morales, his constitutional successors, and Jeanine Anez. His election was confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
The first head of an indigenous state was a Mexican refugee who fled to Argentina after fleeing from a coup.
Jeanine Anez, who was arrested in Trinidad in March 2021, said that the government had accused her of participating in a coup. She was born in Trinidad on June 13, 1967, and has lived there since her departure from power.
Then, she began a hunger strike while in detention and claimed to be a political prisoner. She had stated that she assumed the presidency of Bolivia "without asking for it, not seeking it, and even less waiting (...) with only the mission of organizing elections as well as pacifying the country during crisis". Just before his trial began in February, he was arrested.
She has been a senator since 2010, and is an activist for Unidad Democratica (Democratic Unity). She was elected second vice president of the Senate in the tradition of all groups being represented.
As the head of the interim government, November 2019 to 2020, she had made a promise to hold general elections as soon as she assumed office. However, the ballot was delayed several times due to the coronavirus epidemic.
She finally declared her candidacy for 2020 presidential election, in violation of her promises. This drew criticism from both her left-leaning opponents and her right-leaning allies. In the face of negative polls, she had to give up and place herself in fourth place, far behind Luis Arce, the left-wing candidate and dolphin Evo Morales.
She was faced with the possibility of winning the second round in October 2020. However, she recognized her defeat immediately. She was a candidate for Beni's governorship in local elections but she was not elected.
