MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivian Government files charges against former military, police chiefs and Argentine ambassador

”Arms trafficking is punishable by 30 years in prison in Bolivia,” Del Castillo explained.

The Government of Bolivia Monday announced charges were to be filed against former police and military chiefs as well as a former Argentine ambassador for the shipment of arms which resulted in the toppling of Evo Morales from power in 2019.

Minister of Government Eduardo del Castillo explained that a judicial complaint would be filed against former Chief Commander of Police, Vladimir Yuri Calderón; former Bolivian Air Force (FAB) Chief Jorge Gonzalo Terceros Lara and against former Argentine ambassador Normando Álvarez García, for the alleged crime of illicit arms trafficking in November 2019.

“We are going to file a formal complaint against General Yuri Calderón, former commander of the Bolivian Police; we will also file a complaint against the former Commander of the Air Force, General Terceros and also against the former ambassador of Argentina in Bolivia for the crime of illicit arms trafficking,” Del Castillo said.

Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his former Ministers Patricia Bullrich (Security) and Oscar Aguad (Defense) are also under the spotlight.

Del Castillo Monday showed the ammunition allegedly sent by the Argentine Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional) under Macri. According to Bolivian authorities, there were two shipments of arms to Bolivia, one which was legal and a second one that did not meet the requirements or was not even registered.

The announcements were made Monday by Del Castillo, flanked by Bolivia's current Chief of Police Jhonny Aguilera, and Argentina's current ambassador Ariel Basteiro.

“Arms trafficking is punishable by 30 years in prison in Bolivia. I want to emphasize the issue of the Argentine Material found in warehouses of the Bolivian police. One part was sent legally and another part was done illegally and we are investigating,” Del Castillo pointed out.

He also confirmed that 26,900 12/70 anti-riot bullets were found in a Bolivian Police warehouse. It is part of the 70,000 rubber bullets that the GN asked to bring into the country on November 12, 2019, to allegedly defend the Argentine embassy.

Of that ammunition supply, “there is a missing part that is still under investigation and we must determine if it was used in the Sacaba and Senkata massacres,” Del Castillo said. The strongest hypothesis is that of the 70,000 rubber bullets that left Argentina, 40,000 went to the FAB - according to the letter sent on November 13, 2019, by Terceros Lara - and the rest to the Bolivian Police.

Del Castillo denounced that “the dictatorship of Jeanine Añez” also requested authorization on November 15, 2019, two days after the arrival of the Argentine GN squad, “for a Bolivian Aviation Hercules to enter Ecuador to collect ammunition - mostly rubber bullets and gases - that were also found in the possession of the Bolivian Police.”

It seems “there was a continental plan to repress the Bolivian government-organized since July 24 when, without any basis, [then US President] Donald Trump's undersecretary of state was already talking about fraud. There was already a manual for a coup,” the Bolivian Minister said.

“On November 10, Evo Morales was forced to resign and on November 11 the ambassador requested equipment from the Alacrán group” of Argentina, Del Castillo went on. “The next day, November 12, Jeanine Añez proclaims herself president of Bolivia and Bolivian troops are going to collect embassy personnel and the weapons and ammunition that they had requested ... but other unrequested ones also arrived,” he said.

The scandal over the alleged shipment of arms to Bolivia carried out by the Macri government is also under investigation by a court in Buenos Aires after the complaint filed by the current government of Alberto Fernández.