The Prosecutor's Office of Bolivia requested on Thursday three months of preventive prison for former President Luis Arce, who was detained the day before for a case of alleged corruption in the management of a fund for indigenous projects when he was Minister of Economy during the Government of Evo Morales (2006-2019).
The fiscal accusation, made public this afternoon, establishes that there are sufficient elements of "probability of authorship" in the charges attributed to him and even that Arce (2020-2025) "had full knowledge of the illegality of his conduct", which is why "the extreme precautionary measure of preventive detention" is demanded.
The document also states that there are "procedural risks and danger of flight" of the former head of state, so it is requested that his detention, if confirmed by a precautionary judge, be carried out at the Qhalauma Reintegration Center, for minors, located in the municipality of Viacha, adjacent to La Paz.
A source from the Prosecutor's Office consulted by EFE indicated that the request for Arce to be transferred to a minor's penitentiary and not to an adult prison is due to the need to "safeguard" his integrity.
Arce was apprehended after noon on Wednesday in La Paz and then transferred to the offices of the Special Force for the Fight against Crime (Felcc), investigated as the "main responsible" for the "millionaire economic damage" that occurred in the Indigenous Development Fund, according to the Bolivian Government.
In the morning, the prosecutor of the case, Miguel Cardozo, told the media that the former head of state, who the day before had availed himself of his right to silence during the taking of his statement, will be accused of the alleged crimes of "failure to fulfill duties and anti-economic behavior".
Arce remains in Felcc until the precautionary hearing scheduled for 13:00 on Friday (17:00 GMT), according to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Romer Saucedo, at a press conference.
Saucedo stated that the judge of the case "will have to act with independence", that Justice in Bolivia is "independent" and does not respond to "political interests".
The Public Ministry indicated on Wednesday that the investigation against Arce is framed in facts that occurred when he was Minister of Economy and not president, so in this case it does not correspond to a responsibility trial, but to a criminal process.
The accusation of the Prosecutor's Office also ordered the taking of statements from several leaders of social organizations, former ministers and high-ranking officials of the leftist Movement for Socialism (MAS) governments, some of whom have already been investigated for other complaints of alleged corruption in this indigenous fund.
The Indigenous Origin Peasant and Agropecuary Development Fund (Fondioc) was created in December 2005, a month before Evo Morales assumed the Presidency of the country for the first time, to manage and receive resources for development projects in indigenous communities.
Various cases of corruption in the management of Fondioc became known in 2013, but at that time the only prosecuted person was the director of that body, Marco Antonio Aramayo, despite the fact that it was he who denounced the alleged mismanagement.
Aramayo died in 2022 from a disease after being in preventive detention for seven years for that case.
In 2015, Fondioc was replaced by the Indigenous Development Fund.
