By Daniel Ramos
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivian former President Jeanine Anez, arrested last week over allegations she was part of a coup in 2019, will be transferred to a hospital for medical attention due to ill health after a judge’s ruling, her attorney said on Friday.
“We have confirmed that her health is still delicate,” lawyer Ariel Coronado told Radio Compañera.
Anez, 53, served her fifth day in pretrial detention on Friday, accused of participating in an alleged coup against former President Evo Morales in 2019. She strongly denies the charges and says she took over by constitutional succession.
Coronado added that Anez was not on a hunger strike as some reports had suggested, but was struggling to take in food since being first detained last Saturday at her home in the central city of Trinidad before being taken to La Paz.
“She cannot eat. She eats and vomits. For that reason she is eating very little,” he said. “And her arms are bruised from the injections they have given her.”
Anez’s daughter raised concerns about her mother’s health on Wednesday after authorities confirmed she was taken ill in prison but an ambulance called for her was later sent away.
Bolivia’s socialist government, led by close Morales ally Luis Arce, has sought the arrest of a number of former officials, as well as military and civil leaders over accusations they conspired to oust Morales.
Anez denies the allegations and claims she is the victim of political persecution.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Writing Adam Jourdan; Editing by Richard Chang)
