Luis Fernando Camacho | |
|---|---|
.png) Camacho in 2021 | |
| 2ndGovernor of Santa Cruz | |
| Assumed office 3 May 2021 Suspended: January 26, 2024 – August 29, 2025 | |
| Vice Governor | Mario Aguilera Cirbián |
| Preceded by | Rubén Costas |
| |
| In office 2 February 2019 – 29 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Fernando Cuéllar [es] |
| Succeeded by | Rómulo Calvo [es] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luis Fernando Camacho Vaca (1979-02-15)15 February 1979 (age 46) Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia |
| Political party | Creemos (since 2020) |
| Other political affiliations | Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (2002–2004) |
| Relatives | Eliodoro Camacho |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation |
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| Signature | _Luis_Fernando_Camacho.svg) |
Luis Fernando Camacho Vaca (born 15 February 1979) is a Bolivian activist, businessman, lawyer, and politician serving as the 2ndgovernor of Santa Cruz since 2021.[1][2] He is the leader ofCreemos, opposition bench in thePlurinational Legislative Assembly and was the chair of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee in 2019.
Camacho emerged as a major critic of PresidentEvo Morales and influential public figure during the highly controversial2019 Bolivian general election, demanding Morales resign on 5 November 2019.[3] Following Morales' resignation on 10 November 2019 and the scheduling ofnew elections, Camacho entered Bolivian politics as a presidential candidate for the right-wing party Creemos along with Potosi Civic Committee leader Marco Pumari as his running mate. Camacho would go on to receive 14% of the vote, but losing toLuis Arce orCarlos Mesa in every Bolivian department except his birthplace of Santa Cruz. In the2021 regional elections, he was elected Governor of Santa Cruz, assuming office on 3 May 2021.
Camacho is widely recognized as a major opposition leader in Bolivia.[4][5][6][7][8]
Luis Fernando Camacho was born on 15 February 1979 inSanta Cruz de la Sierra.[9] On his father's side, Camacho is ofcolla (Paceño) origin and descent. According to Eric Soria—who completed agenealogy of the family in the mid-2010s—Camacho is likely the great-great-grandson ofEliodoro Camacho, a famed veteran of theWar of the Pacific who participated actively in Bolivian politics throughout the nineteenth century.[α] Further down the tree, Camacho's great-grandfather was José Félix Camacho, who served asprefect andsenator for Santa Cruz in the early 1900s. The line then continues down through José Camacho Cuéllar before reaching José Luis Camacho Parada, Luis Fernando's father.[10][11]
Camacho studied law at the Private University of Santa Cruz (UPSA), graduating with a diploma in international commercial contracts and a master's degree incorporate law. He completed a second master's infinance andtax law at theUniversity of Barcelona, Spain.[12] Returning to Bolivia, Camacho worked as a professor at the UPSA, teaching courses on corporate law from 2005 to 2017 and finance and tax law from 2006 to 2015. He also spent shorter yearlong stints as a professor ofcommercial law from 2006 to 2007 andeconomic law from 2007 to 2008, also at the UPSA.[13]
Camacho was legal adviser and shareholder of Bolivian insurance holding Nacional Seguros from 2009 to 2015. Both families of Camacho and fellow businessman and politicianBranko Marinkovic have shares in Nacional Seguros holding and its subsidiaries.[14][15]
Camacho also owns Corporación Jurídica, a sole-proprietorship local law firm whose tax address appears inICIJ'sPanama Papers leak lists.[16][17]
He served as the vice-president of far-right activism organizationSanta Cruz Youth Union from 2002 to 2004.[18]
Camacho was inactive between 2004 and 2013, when he became the second vice-president of Provincial Civic Committees of theCruceñidad, a post he held until 2015.[19]
In February 2019, Camacho was elected President of the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz for the 2019-2021 with 234 votes, replacing former presidentFernando Cuéllar Núnez.[20][21][22]
During theNovember 2019 protests that erupted in Bolivia in response toelectoral fraud which was stated by theOrganization of American States, Camacho took leadership of principal opposition in the Santa Cruz region to protest againstEvo Morales.[23] He called on the security forces to join the opposition.[24] Camacho attempted to present himself as the leader of the anti-governmental opposition, although in reality this opposition included a broad array of social groups expressing grievances with Morales's ruling party and distrust in the electoral process.[25][26][27][28]
After President Evo Morales fled toCochabamba, Camacho went to the old Government Palace and put down a Bible and a symbolic letter that renounced Morales. Camacho declared: "I don't go with weapons, I go with my faith and my hope; with a Bible in my right hand and his letter of resignation in my left hand."[29][30][31] A pastor who was present was recorded saying that "the Bible has re-entered the palace.Pachamama will never return".[32]
Following the crisis, Camacho formed theCreemos political alliance and announced his candidacy in the2020 election with Marco Pumari as his vice-presidential candidate.[33] He gained 14% of the popular vote losing in every department except his homeSanta Cruz Department. The latter facilitated his Santa Cruz gubernatorial bid in the2021 regional elections.
With the endorsement of incumbent governorRubén Costas and in alliance with various opposition groups, Camacho and his running mate Mario Aguilera, officially won the governorship (and deputy governorship respectively) infirst round with 860,023 votes (55.64% of the vote).[34]
In Bolivia, Camacho has a reputation as a conservative Catholic figure,[35] known for his opposition to the far-leftEvo Morales presidency.[36] Camacho has widely been placed as right-wing on the political spectrum.[4][7][35][8][5] Some observers named him the "Bolsonaro of Bolivia."[37][38]
On the afternoon of 28 December 2022, Camacho was apprehended outside his home byBolivian Police and transferred to theViru Viru International Airport, to later be taken toLa Paz. Recounting the incident toUNITEL, Graciela Ortiz, Camacho's personal assistant, stated that she and the governor had been driving home after a luncheon when their vehicle was intercepted by police vans. Without presenting awarrant, "they threw him to the ground; they yelled at him, another handcuffed him; they picked him up and took him away. I was afraid because we were scared they would kill us," Ortiz stated.[39][40] Speaking from secondhand, Natalia Ibáñez, Camacho's cousin, added that "they [the police] did not ask him to come out; they broke down [the car] windows [and] subdued two guards."[41] Video of Camacho's arrest distributed by local media outlets corroborated portions of this, showing the governor handcuffed on the side of the road with broken windows in his car.[42]
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Following Camacho's arrest, the Prosecutor's Office issued a public communiqué stating that the governor had been detained as part of Coup D'état I, the case investigating perpetrators of the allegedcoup d'état that ousted Morales from power in 2019. "This legal decision is not a kidnapping orpolitical persecution," the authority assured.[44] Nonetheless, the move to detain a sitting governor was met with swift and heavy condemnation from members of the opposition. "This violent and illegal kidnapping of Governor [Luis Fernando] Camacho is outrageous. [It] violates constitutional and human rights principals," former presidentCarlos Mesa denounced. "What a way to pour hatred and revenge on the political situation of the country," lamentedIván Arias, mayor of La Paz.[45]
Within hours of Camacho's apprehension, public protests erupted in Santa Cruz, as demonstrators initiatedroadblocks and blockades along highways and streets, both in the provinces and the capital.[46] In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, protesters gathered at Viru Viru International in an attempt to block the governor's transfer, forcingBoliviana de Aviación to suspend all flights to and fro.[47][48] In whatEl Deber described as a "night of fury," mass protests swept through the region, with at least three buildings, including the Departmental Prosecutor's Office and the home of public works ministerEdgar Montaño, being consumed by fires started by vandals.[49] "People were enraged," one person toldThe Guardian.[50]
An emergency Assembly of Cruceñidad was convened by the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee on the afternoon of 29 December. In it, prominent civic leaders determined to carry out a twenty-four-hour strike the following day, a measure that included the closing of all border crossings to prevent "future kidnappings."[51] The daylong strike in Santa Cruz went ahead relatively peacefully until the final hours of 30 December when demonstrating youths attempting to reach the Police Department clashed with law enforcement personnel near theCristo Redentor monument in the city center. Protesters burned tires and lobbedfirecrackers while some 200 police troops usedtear gas in their efforts to guard their headquarters.[52]
"The governor is Luis Fernando Camacho; the only manner in which someone can supplant the governor is what is established in Article 26 of our statute; none of that has happened," Aguilera stated.[53] According to interior advisor Efraín Suárez, only a resignation, death, or—in Camacho's case—an enforceable criminal sentence could force the departmental government to replace him. Even if prosecutors did achieve a guilty verdict, "there is still the appeal, and thecourt of cassation, and then theconstitutionalamparo. The road is long."[54] This justification was partially rejected by members of theSupreme Electoral Tribunal, who argued that, though Camacho's situation did not disqualify him from being governor, it did constitute a "temporary absence or definitive impediment," which, per Article 25 of Santa Cruz's Autonomous Statute, means that the vice governor should assume office in anacting capacity.[55] In that vein, Minister of JusticeIván Lima stated that the national government was predisposed toward taking criminal action for breach of duties should the departmental government refuse to swear in Aguilera.[56] For his part, Suárez assured that it would be unnecessary for Aguilera to take office, as Camacho could simply continue exercising public functions from prison. "We [will] have a branch of the Governor's Office in Chonchocoro [prison]," he stated. In keeping with this promise, members of Camacho's cabinet made their first trip to La Paz on 4 January 2023, where they met with the governor to discuss policy matters.[57]
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Camacho's whereabouts remained unknown for hours following his arrest.[58] Finally, at around 6:15 p.m., he landed atEl Alto International Airport, at which point he was quickly transferred to police headquarters in La Paz.[59] When presented to the Prosecutor's Office, the governor refrained from giving a statement on the case. Instead, he used hissworn declaration to deliver a public message, stating that he was "proud ... to have been part of the biggest fight in the history of Bolivia for freedom and democracy ... I always maintained my position that I could recount said feat in my [sworn] declaration."[60] A virtual hearing on Camacho's case began the following day, in which the Prosecutor's Office levied charges of terrorism against the governor and requested six months ofpreventive detention.[61] For its part, Camacho's defense filed an appeal requesting that the governor's arrest be annulled on the grounds that his rights were violated; however, the complaint was quickly declared "unfounded" and thrown out.[62] A separate appeal filed with a different court was also rejected the following day,[63] as was a third one heard in early 2023.[64]
Early on 30 December, Judge Sergio Pacheco of the Eighth Criminal Investigation Court of La Paz ruled that Camacho was "probably the author of the [alleged] crime of terrorism." For this, the judge imposed four months of preventative detention on the governor, to be carried out in Chonchocoromaximum security penitentiary.[58] Shortly into his incarceration, Camacho began suffering severe healthdecompensation, as the combined forces of chronic illness, stress, and La Paz's high altitude caused him to undergomuscle and nerve paralysis.[65][66] Despite requests from his family and lawyers, prison staff refused to transfer him to an outside hospital, all the while denying allegations that the governor had not been allowed access tointernal medical care.[67] Although his health later slightly improved, Camacho assured that, should he die, any blame would lie on President Arce.[68]
On 16 August 2023, Camacho underwent different medical checks to determine if he needed to be transferred to a medical facility for attention due to his health problems. The team of doctors who examined him determined, on 31 August, that Camacho could remain in prison, with a strengthened treatment for his hypertension.[69]
Shortly after Camacho's apprehension, additional investigations into the governor's financial dealings during the 2019 crisis were opened by the government. According to Minister of GovernmentEduardo del Castillo, at least four "large financial movements" amounting to Bs 4.5 million took place between 5 November and 7 December 2019, consisting of Bs 2.1 million deposited into Camacho's personal account and Bs 2.4 million transferred into other people's accounts, including those of his family, aides, and—most notably—active military personnel.[70] In particular, two transfers of undisclosed amounts were deposited into the account of Jorge Terceros, the then-head of theBolivian Air Force. For del Castillo, this payment was "part of the financing of the coup d'état," a point disputed by Terceros's lawyer, Eusebio Vera, who stated that the funds were used in the purchase of fuel as part of an effort to transfer members of the Legislative Assembly to La Paz, where it was hoped they could help put an end to the crisis.[71][72]
Following the presentation of this evidence, the government quickly moved to amplify its suit again Camacho and on 5 January 2023, the governor was hit with an additional two charges for the crimes ofbribery and seduction of troops.[70]
On 19 January 2023, a judge in La Paz ordered Camacho to remain in prison until his trial, upholding a previous decision due to flight risk or obstruct the investigation. Prosecutor Omar Mejillones had argued that Camacho led to a "power vacuum" during the 2019 political crisis.[73][74]
Camacho was released from prison to house arrest on 26 August 2025.[75]
| Year | Office | Party | Alliance | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | ||||||||
| 2020 | President | Independent | Creemos | 862,184 | 14.00% | 3rd | Lost | [76] | ||
| 2021 | Governor | Creemos | None | 860,023 | 55.64% | 1st | Won | [77] | ||
| Source:Plurinational Electoral Organ |Electoral Atlas | ||||||||||
Quiero dejar en claro que soy orgulloso y llevo en alto haber formado parte de la lucha más grande de la historia de Bolivia por la libertad y la democracia ... Siempre mantuve mi posición que en mi declaración pueda contar dicha gesta.
