Former President Luis Arce will serve five months in preventive detention in San Pedro de la Paz prison. An anti-corruption judge issued the measure in the case investigating Arce for illicit enrichment, uneconomic conduct, dereliction of duty, resolutions contrary to the law and improper use of influence. Judge Elmer Laura justified the decision by the existence of evidence that he considers sufficient to attribute to the former president the authorship of the crimes alleged during his management as Minister of Economy in the government of Evo Morales, between 2017 and 2019.
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo named Arce as the “ringleader” of an alleged corruption plot within the state.
The imprisonment of the former president is part of investigations into an alleged case of corruption within the defunct Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples and Peasant Communities (Fondioc). The prosecution accuses Arce of having been part of the Fund’s board of directors when projects valued at nearly $15 million were authorized for initiatives that were never executed or that were diverted during their implementation. The trial presents a list of 20 people linked to the previous hegemonic party, the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), who allegedly benefited from this embezzlement.
“The now accused, by virtue of his status as a former minister and former president, retains a real capacity to influence former officials, witnesses and co-defendants, many of whom depended hierarchically on him or were members of boards of directors placed under his direction,” explains the reasoning of Judge Laura. Likewise, the risk of flight was highlighted, given his travel history.
Arce was denied his request for reasons of family roots and health. The defense argued that the man who was the leader of the MAS suffered from cancer, was 62 years old and had to take care of his mother, an elderly person. However, the judge indicated that no updated medical certificate was presented proving the former president’s illness, since the last study dates back to 2017. The judicial authority clarified that, if specialized medical care is necessary, it can be guaranteed within the penitentiary system located in the center of the Bolivian government headquarters.
The hearing was virtual and lasted more than six hours. The economist testified from the cells of the Special Force to Combat Delinquency (FELCC), where he has been detained since Wednesday. The news of his arrest, recorded the same afternoon, was broadcast by his former Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prado. The former manager denounced that Arce was the victim of a “kidnapping”, having been arrested with a notice which, according to her, was only presented to him at the time of his arrest.
Criticism of detention
The former Deputy Minister of Government Coordination, Gustavo Torrico, denounced irregularities in the process. “The arrest has no basis. It is claimed that the president authorized the transfer of public property to private funds, which has been guaranteed since 2010 in the general state budget,” he said. Torrico pointed out that there were inconsistencies from the beginning of the prosecution. The arrest of the former president stems from the statements of the former MAS deputy, Lidia Patty, who has remained in prison since Saturday and is one of those investigated in the Fondioc affair.
Patty is accused of receiving $100,000 for a rural farming project that never came to fruition. The former parliamentarian said in her testimony that it was Arce who authorized the transfer of state resources to her private account. According to Torrico, the cash transfers were included in the state budget. Fondioc’s alleged embezzlement was already the subject of a judgment in 2015 against its then president, Nemesia Achachollo; However, the case was reopened within the framework of the truth commissions promoted by the new center-right government Rodrigo Paz.
According to the new findings, the economic damage caused to the State by the irregular use of resources intended for peasant agricultural production would amount to 52 million dollars. Minister Oviedo assured that Arce would be at the head of this network of corruption: “He authorized, he processed, he designated and he executed how the money was going to come out. »
The Office of the State Comptroller General reported in 2015 that 153 Fondioc projects had not been completed, despite funding received from executive authorities. As part of this process, Arce was declared summoned in 2020, while he was in the middle of a race for the presidential elections, which he won with more than 60%. “Until now, I don’t know exactly what I’m being accused of. It’s an imminent political affair, against our candidacy,” he said at the time.
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