Juana Quispe, councilor of Ancoraimes (La Paz), was killed on March 12, 2012, at 42. Before his death he denounced harassment and threats to resign from office; even criminally.
Thirteen years later, there was just a sentence on the case, but no one in jail. Paradoxically, the statistics of violence and political harassment of women are on the rise, according to the association of councilors and mayors of Bolivia (Aconol).
If in 2021 79 cases were reported, in 2024 they were already 118, not counting the facts not reported.
In Santa Cruz, the situation is not far away. Both in 2024 and so far this year, two councilors of the Cruz Cruz, one of Porongo and a substitute deputy, say they receive threats in different ways, aggressions that were of public knowledge, but also obstacles to their supervisory work.
Lola Terrazas and Silvana Mucarzel, the first of the Autonomous Community (CA) and the second of UCS, have been news in recent times for this topic.
In the case of terraces, a few days ago it was physically assaulted by a group of people, during inspection in the municipal land of the UV285.
For its part, Silvana Mucarzel, president of the Cruz Cruz, three times announced the pressure and harassment of his own party, which according to Mucarzel wants his seat in the council, and also the space of Israel Alcócer; Both unmotive from the guidelines of Mayor Jhonny Fernández, national leader of UCS.
Unlike Lola Terrazas, the president of the Council has already laid the complaint in the Public Ministry for violence and political harassment, the same that was dismissed at the beginning, until finally, after remedying observations, she was admitted.
Another case is that of Isabel Zambrana, councilor of Porongo, who in a very brief response accepted that a guard judge hindered her supervisory work in an overwhelming, which rather resulted in process against the complainants.
In the national level, Deputy Laura Rojas, cataloged by her detractors as a dissident of the Alliance, we said, she is also in the process of filing a legal resource to stop the harassment she suffers long ago, but that she just decided to formally denounce, given the affectation to her health.
Background
Lola Terrazas said that it was not the first time that they attacked her, and gave as an example the case of the dispute for the lands of the Mutualist Market: “They sent me to say that she was a single mother, and that with two days of detention, on the third day I was scared and the subject was scared anymore.”
According to her, the most complex cases of harassment had to do with overwhelming, and confessed that she has not denounced in judicial instances because when the case “Petard”, the former secretary of Finance, Mario Centellas, sent her to continue with “her gorilla”, and despite finding him in flagrance and putting him before the judge and the prosecutor Yovana Castro, they minimize him.
“Judge Primo Flores, in the precautionary, said that as public people we had to get used to. It was disappointing and said that I would never waste my time,” he questioned.
Muncarzel listed the cases after the pressure against her, but summed up everything in search to remove her seat.
According to her, the UCS bothers the assumed inspection; He also mentioned the rejection of the increase in urban transport rates; the “embezzlement of more than Bs 270 million with computer manipulation to the former Secretariat of Tax Administration (SAT)”; Avasallalamos to Ecological Cord, Botanical Garden, Farmafu neighborhood, in addition to the Mutualist Case; The paralysis of the Project for the Property Regularization Proposed by UCS, “to regularize settlements, overwhelming, improper occupation of municipal property, of the last three years.”
Deputy Laura Rojas said that she is not forgiven to have unmarked to believe; He said that the pressure reaches the point that they do not give conditions to operate as president of the parliamentary brigade, for which until now they do not approve a budget, “we had to make minga because it was full of chulupis and mice, above we owe two years of light invoices,” he admitted.
The vulnerability is aggravated, he said, in his capacity as substitute, since they deny him support with personnel to manage their written report requests. Like her, she remarked, there are other substitutes, even other parties, and appointed Fabiola Guachalla, Jennifer Torrico, María José Salazar, but also a male, Henry Gutiérrez, all substitutes.
“On the other hand there is Mrs. Sandra Paz (deputy), you can’t say anything against Jhonny Fernández because she attacks, she was intimidating in different groups because I gave my support to MUCARZEL, because they want Credit, but was blocked by Evistas, “he alluded to.
Judicial Sicariat
Regarding the complaints, the substitute deputy of the citizen community, María José Salazar, said that there is a judicial sicariate in Bolivia, where the victims are systematically revictimized and crushed, but that also the authorities called by law to inspect, are denounced to do their job and demand justice.
“Coincidentally, political harassment falls mostly in women’s authorities, but in spite of that we see that there is courage and a strong will to follow the processes until the end. In this sense, the public complaint with the press, which we have also seen suffers aggressions and harassment, has become our best ally to redirect the processes again,” he said.
He also stressed that this should not be allowed to continue, such as the normalization of corruption within the judicial system, where unfortunately there are consolidated consortia System of corrupt judges and prosecutors, “he lashed out.
To know
HARASSMENT
A report by the Ombudsman on Political Harassment establishes a series of recommendations to the relevant instances, to constantly monitor these complaints.
The ways of pressing
The 2024 report of Acobol shows that Santa Cruz occupies the third national place in violence and political harassment, and that this has to do with shared management, limitation of functions and economic retention.
