Bolivia: Anger rises as opposition leader Camacho arrested

Bolivian constabulary person arrested a salient right-wing absorption person connected charges of fomenting a coup.

Luis Fernando Camacho is the politician of Santa Cruz, the country's wealthiest region. He helped oust President Evo Morales from powerfulness successful 2019.

Mr Camacho has led an anti-government onslaught successful Santa Cruz for implicit a month, bringing the portion to a standstill.

His supporters person condemned his apprehension arsenic a kidnapping and person taken to the streets successful protest.

But a connection from the Attorney General's bureau said Mr Camacho was arrested connected the grounds of staging a coup and helium had been alert of the charges for respective weeks.

The strikes Mr Camacho started person been implicit delays successful carrying retired the country's census.

The census would apt effect successful Santa Cruz - which has agelong locked horns with highland governmental superior La Paz - securing much taxation revenues and governmental power. The census is scheduled for 2024, but protesters privation it held adjacent year.

Graciela Ortiz, an adjunct for Mr Camacho who was with him during his arrest, said a achromatic patrol van intercepted their vehicle.

"People dressed successful achromatic with achromatic guns got retired and they started hitting the windows. They didn't adjacent archer america to get out, they conscionable deed them with the backmost portion of the weapons," she told the Reuters quality agency.

"They threw him to the ground, tied him down, picked him up and took him."

Upon being arrested, Mr Camacho was taken to a section airdrome to beryllium flown to La Paz, section media reported.

As quality of the apprehension spread, his supporters took to the streets, mounting up barricades and mounting occurrence to the determination prosecutor's office, according to the AFP quality agency.

Protesters besides descended connected Santa Cruz's Viru Viru airport, successful an evident effort to forestall Mr Camacho from being taken to different location.

Long queues person been gathering up arsenic radical banal up connected food, fearing roadworthy blockades.

Former President Carlos Mesa called the apprehension a "kidnapping".

The US State Department urged the authorities to refrain from excessive usage of unit against the opposition.

A UN spokesperson said that portion they did not cognize the specifics of the lawsuit "people everyplace should beryllium allowed to explicit their views and protestation peacefully".

"Furthermore, we basal against arbitrary arrests arsenic they interruption the cardinal quality rights of an individual," they said.