The Bolivian Attorney General’s Office denounced the “kidnapping” of the State Attorney General, Roger Mariaca, on Wednesday night (30/09). He was arrested at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, alongside Santa Cruz departmental prosecutor Alberto Zeballos. Both had their visas revoked by the United States on charges of corruption and drug trafficking.
The Attorney General’s Office classified Mariaca’s arrest as a “kidnapping”. Officials from the institution made a live broadcast to denounce the operation and stated that they were unaware of the reasons for the detention: “we want to denounce the kidnapping of our State Attorney General and the violation of human rights”, they said.
At the head of the Bolivian Public Ministry, Mariaca led investigations that affected political and business figures and which, according to him, caused discomfort inside and outside the country. Among them is the case involving Argentine political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, linked to Argentine president, Javier Milei.
The police action against the prosecutor was not limited to the airport. Police carried out operations at Public Ministry facilities in Sucre and Santa Cruz and searched his residence, in the north of Santa Cruz. The operation also affected other authorities, such as former government minister Eduardo del Castillo, intercepted by police officers in Sopocachi, in La Paz. Arrests of members of the Public Ministry and police officers were also reported.
US sanctions
On Monday (28/09), Mariaca publicly reacted to the Trump administration’s decision to suspend her entry into the country. He not only denied the accusations of corruption and drug trafficking, but also denounced foreign interference in the investigations carried out by the Bolivian Public Ministry.
When specifically mentioning the Cerimedo case, the attorney general said that the investigations had provoked concern in different sectors, but assured that he would not back down “not even an inch”. He demanded respect for Bolivia’s sovereignty and the principle of non-interference.
Cerimedo is being investigated by the Bolivian justice system in a process that includes accusations of attempted feminicide and money laundering. The Argentine gained prominence as a strategist for the Latin American right and participated in the international articulation around Jair Bolsonaro. Investigations conducted in Bolivia expanded the scope of the case to possible political and financial connections.
The revocation of Mariaca’s visa was part of a broader measure by Washington against 13 current and former officials in the country. The president of the Senate, Diego Ávila, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Castro, asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to formally request information about the accusations from the US State Department. “An accusation is not a sentence and no citizen can be convicted without evidence,” he said.
Accusations
The operation also takes place amid the publication of accusations made by Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, captured in March in Bolivia. Hours before the arrests, recordings circulated in which Marset accused Bolivian authorities, including Mariaca and former minister Eduardo del Castillo, of having maintained relations with his organization.
In one of the recordings, Marset states that Mariaca was his “friend” and that the prosecutor told him “what he had to tell him”. In another statement, he claims to have paid US$500,000 to obtain protection and remain in the country. The statements are accusations from the drug trafficker and, so far, do not in themselves constitute proof of the facts attributed to the authorities.
On the very day of his arrest, the Public Prosecutor’s Office had rejected another accusation according to which Mariaca had met with Marset before the Uruguayan’s extradition to the United States. The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the information “does not correspond to the truth” and demanded that evidence be presented. Marset was captured by the Bolivian police in March, after remaining at large since 2023. During Mariaca’s administration, the Public Ministry maintained cases against the drug trafficker and investigated crimes such as arms trafficking, criminal organization and criminal association.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
