Bolivia’s former acting president Jeanine Anez, arrested after coup allegations levelled by her predecessor and rival Evo Morales, denounced her status as a “political prisoner” in remarks posted to Twitter on Sunday.
Writing on her birthday, Anez vowed from pre-trial detention that “they will not break my spirit, even if they continue to invent crimes to cover up their own.”
The ruling MAS party, she added in a handwritten note posted to her Twitter account, was keeping her as a “trophy of revenge.”
Anez was arrested in March on charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy over what Morales had claimed was a coup attempt against him. Her detention elicited widespread international condemnation.
The conservative politician had come to power in November 2019 after leftist Morales and several senior allies in his Movement for Socialism (MAS) resigned following weeks of protest over his controversial reelection to an unconstitutional fourth term.
As Morales fled into exile after 14 years in power, Anez was the most senior parliamentarian left and was sworn in by congress as interim president despite the lack of a quorum, with MAS legislators boycotting the session.
Morales and his allies then claimed they had been the victims of a coup.
The MAS was returned to power in elections last October, and now controls the presidency and Congress.
Anez is accused of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy, among other crimes. Her former justice and energy ministers are also in detention.
