In September 2020, the State Ombudsman"s Office published a report on the months of political crisis in 2019, indicating that the past government administration (currently the opposition) and paramilitary groups linked with that administration were those mainly responsible for the crisis and for the death of 20 protesters. There then followed a government
report in April 2021, which was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in April 2021. In this report it was claimed that the Catholic Church was part of a conspiracy to bring about a coup. In reaction to this, on 15 June 2021, the Bolivian Bishops" Conference published a
report (Iglesiaviva, 15 June 2021) defending the Catholic Church against such an accusation by‚ documenting its role as facilitator of the dialogue between President Morales" government and representatives of civil society, diplomatic corps, political opposition and churches. According to Noticia Fides, reporting on 16 June 2021, the Ombudsman is now claiming that the Bishop"s Conference is spreading false information and the matter would be brought before
the Vatican.
World Watch Research analyst Rossana Ramirez comments briefly: "Bolivia is a country where society is expected to adhere to the official narrative of the government. It is clearly apparent that the Catholic Church is deliberately being discredited. In theory, the Ombudsman must defend the interests of the general public and be totally independent. But in practice, the Ombudman"s Office would seem to be supporting the ex-president"s political party (which is currently in power) and is virtually implying that all who are linked with the opposition are conspirators. The government is thus targeting the Catholic Church so that it will lose influence in society."
