Former Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora (2020-2025) was arrested this Wednesday in La Paz, reported former Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, who denounced the operation as a “completely illegal kidnapping.”
In a video on social media, Prada said that Arce was arrested while “alone” and that the arrest occurred without official notification or the presence of family members.
“I want to denounce to the Bolivian people and the international community that former President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora was just kidnapped in Sopocachi,” stated the former Minister of the Presidency, who at the time of the recording was heading towards the headquarters of the Special Force for the Fight Against Crime (FELCC), where Arce was allegedly taken to a prison cell.
The statement adds that the action was carried out “completely without following the proper procedures.”
According to subsequent statements by the Minister of Government (Interior), Marco Antonio Oviedo, the authorities are pointing to Arce as the “main person responsible” in the Indigenous Fund case. The Attorney General of the State, Roger Mariaca, reported that the former president exercised his right to remain silent in his statement and that he will remain in police custody tonight awaiting his arraignment hearing.
Press sources indicated that the arrest occurred in the context of the investigation into the so-called Indigenous Fund case, which resumed this week with the arrest of former congresswoman Lidia Patty, the main accuser in the Coup I trial for the Sacaba and Senkata massacres in 2019 during the coup against Evo Morales.
Following the right-wing victory in the general elections last August, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the release of Jeanine Áñez, the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, and the former civic leader of Potosí, Marco Antonio Pumari, the main defendants in that case.
Arce was arrested around 3:00 p.m. (local time) by police officers and taken in a white van to the FELCC headquarters. Citing police officers, local media said the former president, who left office in November, reacted calmly to the arrest.
IMAGE CREDIT: Former Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, said that Arce was taken to the Special Force for the Fight Against Crime (FELCC). Photo: EFE.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
