LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) 鈥� A Bolivian court on Friday ordered the country’s former to remain detained for five months while he awaits trial on corruption charges, the latest development in a case that threatens to exacerbate Bolivia’s political tensions.
Arce, 62, a leader from Bolivia鈥檚 Movement Toward Socialism party, was elected in 2020 and left office a month ago following the in nearly two decades. He strongly denies the charges of breach of duty and financial misconduct. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted.
Two days after on the streets of Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, a judge ordered his detention in a virtual hearing Friday.
Arce was transferred to one of Bolivia’s largest prisons in La Paz at night. No trial date was announced.
The accusations concern the alleged diversion of millions of dollars from a state fund into private accounts and date back to when Arce served as economy minister under from 2006 until 2017.
Although the scandal first broke in 2017, investigations into the alleged graft stalled during Morales’ presidency as Bolivia’s courts proved submissive to the political power of the day. The case was reopened , ending by the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party.
to clean up the government and seek justice for corruption as he rode to power on a wave of outrage over in four decades.
Arce criticized the charges as political persecution.
鈥淚鈥檓 a scapegoat,鈥� he told the judge, insisting that he had no personal involvement in the government fund under scrutiny, which supported the Indigenous people and peasant farmers who formed the backbone of MAS support.
鈥淭he accusations are politically motivated.鈥�
Officials involved in the previous iteration of the investigation say Arce is accused of siphoning off money from rural development projects to secure loyalty from MAS-allied union and Indigenous leaders during election campaigns.
Morales was elected to three consecutive terms, when his reelection to an unprecedented fourth term sparked accusations of fraud and mass protests.
Arce’s lawyers asked the judge to grant his release pending trial, citing the ex-president’s battle with kidney cancer several years ago.
But Judge Elmer Laura denied the appeal, and even exceeded the prosecution鈥檚 request of three months in a juvenile detention center by ordering five months in a state prison.
鈥淭hese are crimes that directly affect state assets and resources that were allocated to vulnerable sectors,” Laura said.
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Isabel DeBre in Santiago, Chile, contributed to this report.
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