Negotiable Justice | Justicia negociable

By Juan Jose Toro, Vision 360:

Is the law meant to be enforced or negotiated? By calling for a dialogue with a group of people who pursue individual and sectarian interests, Arce is also confirming that Bolivians are not equal before the law.

With magistrates who maneuvered to extend their high positions, Bolivians began 2024 with the confirmation that our justice system is, without exaggeration, the worst in the world.

Instead of repairing damages, Bolivian justice causes them and has become a lethal weapon against the enemies of those in power. It demonstrated this by launching spectacular police operations to arrest those it considers its political enemies, such as former civic leaders Luis Fernando Camacho and Marco Antonio Pumari.

One of its victims is Jeanine Añez. When she was subjected to an ordinary trial, many voices protested because, as a former president, she should have been tried through an accountability trial. However, the government’s argument was that she had not been a president but a “self-proclaimed” one, as the result of a coup d’état. They ignored arguments stating that coup leaders like García Meza were tried through accountability trials because that is what the law dictates.

Then, in one of his detestable habits, Evo Morales spoke up to say that Añez’s ordinary prosecution was decided in a negotiation with the government, where he requested that route, discarding the accountability trial. The matter is extremely serious because, with the greatest of ease, the former president admitted that he circumvented the law by imposing his will over it. He wanted to send Jeanine to jail, and he succeeded.

But life is a rollercoaster, so after many attempts, he had to face the consequences of an accusation for allegedly committing sexual crimes. The Tarija Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest, but a judge in Santa Cruz immediately annulled it.

While he was president, Morales enjoyed total immunity and protection. He could commit crimes because his circle allowed and facilitated it, but now things are different because he is not governing, at least not directly.

However, Evo continues to wield his power in ways that are noticeable but not provable. One of them is buying the conscience of judges and prosecutors to ensure they don’t go after him. He has evaded the actions of justice, which until midweek had decided not to touch him, and has entrenched himself in his stronghold of Chapare so that no one can interfere with him.

To make matters worse, his supporters have initiated a roadblock, which, as they have openly admitted, seeks to prevent him from being apprehended. It has been “reconfirmed,” then, that we are not equal before the law because there is a class untouched by it, one that can pay for its favors.

But that’s not all: President Luis Arce’s government chose to invite Evo Morales and his followers to negotiate a solution to their demands. And what is going to be negotiated? Once again, the former president will be safe from justice, even though it has been shown that he has committed statutory rape.

Is the law meant to be enforced or negotiated? By calling for a dialogue with a group of people who pursue individual and sectarian interests, Arce is also confirming that Bolivians are not equal before the law.

Leave a comment