Score-settling to deepen political divisions in Bolivia

Over the weekend, Jeanine Áñez — who served as the interim president of Bolivia between November 2019 and 2020 — was arrested at her home on terrorism and sedition charges. Four months after taking office, Bolivia’s new President Luis Arce is now going after several of the characters involved in the 2019 coup that ousted his political godfather, Evo Morales, in a move that looks more like political score-settling than justice.

The justice system also targeted five members of the Áñez cabinet, as well as Army General Williams Kaliman and former police chief Yuri Calderón. Much more than Ms. Áñez, Messrs. Kaliman and Calderón played pivotal roles in removing Mr. Morales after he won a fourth consecutive term in a highly contested vote count, during which the right-wing opposition accused the government of vote-rigging. 

International observers later found no evidence of manipulation, however.

During the electoral campaign, Mr. Arce tried to position himself as a conciliatory figure — even going as far as saying Mr. Morales made a mistake by attempting to cling on to power. Now, however, he shows...