The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela spoke out this Saturday to express its “deep concern over the detention of the former president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Luis Arce Catacora.”
Through a statement published by Foreign Minister Yván Gil, “Venezuela warns about the selective use of the judicial apparatus as a tool of political confrontation, a practice that has been repeated in Latin America under lawfare schemes.”
This document highlights that this type of actions “seriously damages the credibility of Bolivian institutions, distorts democracy and deepens social polarization.”
Finally, “the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its support, active and timely solidarity with the brother Bolivian people.”
It should be noted that on December 10, former President Arce was arrested in the city of La Paz in the framework of an investigation into an alleged embezzlement of millions from the Development Fund for Indigenous Peoples and Peasant Communities (Fondioc).
Subsequently, anti-corruption judge Elmer Laura ordered five months of preventive detention against the former president, establishing the San Pedro prison as the detention center. Faced with this measure, the former head of state has reiterated that he is innocent and denounced that there are political motivations behind this process.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), He also set a position this Saturday, December 13, denouncing the use of Bolivia’s judicial system as a weapon for political or power purposes, diverting its genuine function of dispensing justice, violating “the rule of law, popular sovereignty and democratic coexistence.”
