President of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, announced this Thursday the closure of the Ministry of Justice, which he considered an instrument of «persecution» during previous governments, on the very day he dismissed his recent head due to a three-year prison sentence.
«There will be no more political persecution in Bolivia, the Ministry of Justice is dead, and we are going to bury it well so that state terrorism does not return to persecute Bolivians,» Paz stated in a declaration at the Government House in La Paz.
Hours earlier, the Head of State dismissed the then Minister of Justice, Freddy Vidovic, who had been in office for 12 days and was suggested by the Vice President of Bolivia, Edmand Lara.
Paz recalled that the closure of the Ministry of Justice was one of his campaign commitments during the electoral period with the Christian Democratic Party (CDP), because during the governments of Evo Morales (2006-2019) and Luis Arce (2020-2025) it served for «political persecution» and «abuse of political power towards society».
He also indicated that he decided to keep it as a way to heed the suggestion made by Vice President Lara, so that this ministry remained among the 15 ministries that Paz decided to maintain after a first state reorganization.
However, the continuity of the Ministry of Justice was called into question after the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) confirmed that the head of that department, Vidovic, had a three-year prison sentence, despite the then minister having assured the president that he had no pending legal issues.
«We are guided by norms and sentences, trusting the minister's word, he continued, but in the face of the TSJ's ruling, we had to make our own decision,» said Paz.
He also maintained that keeping Vidovic in office implied that the vice president, president, and the Government were on the verge of facing a «complicated legal scenario».
This morning, a presidential decree was made public appointing Jorge García as the new Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency, in place of Vidovic, while during a public act the head of state confirmed that decision under the argument that «the faith of the State was at stake».
The decision also creates tension between Paz and Lara, who recently accused the president of trying to nullify him and of acting unconstitutionally by also creating a vice-ministry in charge of coordinating actions between the Executive and Legislative branches, a function that, he said, corresponds to the vice president.
Paz's cabinet is now composed of fourteen ministries and includes only three women as heads of departments, a contrast with the new Legislative Assembly, where for the first time women are in the majority.
Photo EFE
