FORMER Bolivian interim president Jeanine Anez has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for her role in a US-backed coup that ousted leftist Evo Morales in November 2019. 

The ruling came three months after her trial began and was beset by a number of delays as Bolivians gathered outside the courtroom waiting for the verdict. 

She was found guilty of “decisions contrary to the constitution” and of “dereliction of duty.”

The far-right former politician was sentenced to “a punishment of 10 years” in a women’s prison in the capital La Paz for crimes during her time as a senator prior to assuming the presidency. 

She faces further charges of genocide and sedition relating to the brutal crackdown on indigenous Bolivians which saw massacres in Senkata and Sacaba in the aftermath of the coup. 

At least 22 people were killed and nearly 100 injured as she ordered the police and armed forces to quell protests against the ousting of Mr Morales. 

She faces between 10 and 20 years, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stating that her brief tenure was marked by “serious violations of human rights.”

The violent coup against Mr Morales is believed to have been triggered by fears over access to Bolivias vast lithium reserves. 

Following his removal from power, Telsa owner Elon Musk, whose company relies heavily on lithium, came under fire after gloating: “We coup who we want.”

The US promoted unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, while a report drafted by the Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS) said it found “clear evidence of voting irregularities.”

Its secretary-general Luis Almagro was confronted over his role in drafting the influential document at US President Joe Biden’s disastrous Summit of the Americas last week. 

He has already been expelled from his own party in Uruguay over his constant agitation for US-backed regime change in Venezuela and Nicaragua which have both started the process of leaving the body. 

Mr Morales’s Movement Towards Socialism returned to power almost a year to the day after he was ousted after winning a landslide in the presidential and parliamentary elections. 

Ms Anez was arrested in March 2021 charged with the illegal assumption of power. 

Despite the the atrocities committed by her far-right administration, the arrests and charges have been condemned by the United States, the European Union and other imperialist powers. 

Human Rights Watch, a notorious supporter of the fascist coup and US regime change operations in Latin America, said that it was “concerned about how this case has been pursued” and urged “superior courts to examine how the proceedings were conducted.”