-
My biggest concern re the Jeanine Áñez trial remains its failure to widely establish its own political legitimacy. woborders.blog/2021/03/18/anez-arrested/
-
As I wrote after her arrest: "Will the current investigation have legitimacy across the political spectrum? All signs point to no.
-
"While there is a coherent case around Áñez’s responsibility, it is nowhere near as clear as her command responsibility for human rights abuses—chiefly the Sacaba and Senkata massacres, mass arrests, and torture in prison—during her first month in office."
-
Bolivian prosecutors and the Arce government face the same problem ré Áñez's self-proclamation as the US Democrats face on January 6: total political deadlock on the underlying narrative.
-
To overcome this, they need to convince the public as well as a judge of their case.
-
Áñez's long pre-trial detention, delicate physical and emotional health, and the judicial system's shaky reputation all made it harder to use the trial for a true national reckoning.