Two people, a blonde woman on the left and a short-haired man on the right, both looking at the camera. — Jeanine Áñez and Luis Fernando Camacho | La Derecha Diario

Camara — Jeanine Áñez and Luis Fernando Camacho | La Derecha Diario

Bolivia's justice system announced the release of all political prisoners.

The measure comes days after the heavy electoral defeat of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)

22/08/2025 18:09:00h

Editorial Team

After the harsh defeat of the socialist government in Bolivia, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ordered the country's departmental courts to review, within 24 hours, the preventive detention proceedings of three of the most prominent opposition figures: former president Jeanine Áñez, former Santa Cruz governor Luis Fernando Camacho, and Marco Antonio Pumari.

This measure comes just days after the heavy electoral defeat of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), which lost its political majority in a result that completely reshapes the national landscape.

In practice, the TSJ's directive announces the release of all political prisoners, who have remained incarcerated under false charges of conspiracy, terrorism, and sedition since the 2019 crisis. These three opposition leaders are victims of the abusive use of preventive detention as a tool of judicial persecution, used by a socialist regime that lasted more than 20 years.

Official document from the Supreme Court of Justice of Bolivia addressed to the presidents of departmental courts of justice, signed by President Dr. Romer Saucedo Gómez, regarding the review of procedural deadlines and with specific mention of the cases of Jeanine Áñez Chávez, Luis Fernando Camacho Vaca, and Marco Antonio Pumari Arriaga, dated in Sucre on August 22, 2025.

The document from the Supreme Court of Justice | La Derecha Diario

"After four and a half years, the Supreme Court of Justice instructs to act according to the law," Jeanine Áñez stated on her X account, adding: "Freed from the interference of MAS and the Executive Branch, Justice must restore all the rights and guarantees that were taken from us."

She also asserted that "the Prosecutor's Office must proceed in the same way, since we were persecuted, imprisoned, and prosecuted outside the express mandate of the Constitution by MAS instructions to eliminate the defenders of democracy."

Two men are sitting at a table talking, with glasses of water and notebooks; in the background, there is a multicolored flag and another green and yellow flag.

Evo Morales and Luis Arce | La Derecha Diario

The TSJ's decision can't be separated from the new political context. After the heavy electoral setback, MAS lost the ability to control all branches of government with the same strength as in recent years. The weakening of that hegemony opens space for a more independent judiciary, which now recognizes the irregularity of keeping opposition leaders detained without cause.

Everything indicates that Áñez, Camacho, and Pumari will be released in the coming days, marking the beginning of a new stage in Bolivian politics. Their release from prison will not only represent a victory for those who denounced their status as political prisoners, but also a symbol that Bolivian democracy seeks to regain balance after years of socialist political persecution.

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