Bolivia: De Facto Regime Supporters Kidnapped Evo's Ex-Minister

Evo Morales' former Interior Minister Carlos Romero denounced Saturday that The Resistance, a shock group supporting the coup-based government led by Jeanine Añez, kept him kidnapped for two days inside his home.

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"They have kidnapped me in my own house. They've locked the water stopcock, I had no food or water," Romero told reporters at the hospital where he is still convalescing.

"I am a symbol of political persecution," former Interior minister said and added that police officers were even "guarding" him inside his room.

Bolivia's deposed president, who had already warned that Romero was trapped inside his home on January 9, expressed solidarity with his former official.

"Brother Carlos Romero, former Interior minister, more than 48 hours without water or food, alone in his apartment, surrounded by paramilitaries and police. This is an attempt on life by the Añez, Camacho, and Mesa dictatorship," the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) leader Evo Morales tweeted.

After the elections held on October 20, 2019, in which Evo Morales was re-elected as President, the Bolivian far-right began to organize irregular "vigilante" groups, which led violent actions against the Indigenous population.​​​​​​​

One of these shock groups, The Resistance, settled on the outskirts of Romero's house since early Thursday and remained there until Friday harassing the former Interior Minister.

This 53-year-old man, who was transferred by ambulance to the hospital, presented symptoms of "hypertension, ulcer-related severe pain, anxiety, depression, and moderate dehydration," said the physician who attended him.

"The de-facto government appointed Juan Carlos Zuleta as Bolivian Lithium Deposits manager. Uyuni's people reject Camacho and Pumari's advisor. Neoliberals and coup plotters, who do not want Bolivia's energy sovereignty, prefer to make the lithium industry unfeasible."

On January 8, the self-proclaimed president Añez announced that her regime investigates 592 people who worked in the Evo Morales administration (2006-2019), many of whom are also Socialist militants.

In this regard, the anti-corruption prosecutor's office of La Paz opened a judicial proceeding against the former Interior Minister, who is being accused of improper influence and breach of duties.

Romero sought political asylum at the Mexican embassy in La Paz after the U.S.-backed coup carried out on Nov. 10, 2019. It was not specified when or why he left the Mexican legation.​​​​​​​