Socialist victory in Bolivia a huge relief to former Halifax resident

A former Halifax resident who was fighting sedition and terrorism charges in Bolivia is breathing a sigh of relief with the return of a socialist government in his home country.

Juan Tellez, a Canadian citizen and former professor at Saint Mary's University, was charged in August along with other members of the Movement for Socialism Party (MAS).

His daughter said at the time the charges were an act of political persecution carried out by Bolivia's interim president, who had targeted and detained hundreds of opposition members.

"Many of us are relieved," Tellez told CBC Radio's Information Morning on Monday. "We feel more comfortable in our daily lives because we have no more of this persecution on our backs."

Last month, MAS won the election with more than 50 per cent of the vote and returned to power about a year after former leader Evo Morales resigned and fled the country over accusations of election fraud.

His replacement, interim president Jeanine Áñez, kept pushing back the election date, prompting protests and raising concerns about human rights violations.

Tellez joined many other Bolivians in meeting Morales at the Argentina-Bolivia border recently to welcome him back home. He called the mood in the country "celebratory." 

"We don't feel any more of the danger that any moment they will put us in jail or detain us, and personally I feel so comfortable," Tellez said.

"In these last couple of days I've been in the countryside, in the communities … and people there are so happy and enjoying this political and social context."

Tellez, who was also charged with threats against public health, said some 700 people faced similar charges under the interim government.

A report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found about 150 former government officials in Bolivia were charged in the first few months of Áñez's government.

Tellez believes Bolivia's justice system will throw out the charges that have "no justification at all."

"There is no political context anymore to make us feel persecuted because we have not committed any crime," he said. "I have not been a terrorist. I have not had any sedition activity or threatened the public health, which were the accusations against many of us, and they have no proof of that."

Despite the pandemic, he said more than 89 per cent of the country cast a ballot on Oct. 18 and that 53 per cent voted for MAS.

"This large support, important support, is a sign that there was no such fraud as the Áñez regime wanted to create in the imagination of people," he said.

The new president, Luis Arce, is a close ally of Morales but has said he won't play a role in his government.

Thankful for Canada's support

This summer, Tellez's family and supporters pleaded with the Canadian government to intervene on his behalf. 

"Although I am so far away, 10,000 miles away from Canada ... I felt that strong support for the many organizations that mobilized to not only support me, but also to support others that were in the same situation," he said.

Tellez began travelling to Nova Scotia in the mid-1980s and immigrated to Halifax from Bolivia in 1990. He raised his family in the city and worked as a university professor for decades.

His community development work began taking him back to Bolivia in 2006 and he returned to his home country permanently in 2014. In 2015, Tellez was elected mayor of the rural municipality of Betanzos, where he grew up.

Bolivia's tumultuous year has not turned him off of politics. He said he's considering a run for governor.