Bolivia Swears In Interim Attorney General for 90 Days
POLITICS · BOLIVIA
Key Facts
- —The country Bolivia, an Andean nation of about 11 million people, where Congress elects the attorney general who directs every criminal prosecution.
- —Why it matters On 28 September the US State Department accused the last attorney general, Roger Mariaca, of taking bribes to help drug traffickers. Bolivia has now replaced him.
- —Why now Vice President Edmand Lara, who presides over Congress, had delayed the oath over procedure. He swore in José Armando Urioste on Monday night, 5 October.
- —What happened Urioste took office for 90 days and said the prosecution service “smells very bad”. President Rodrigo Paz set him four tasks at a midday ceremony.
- —The numbers Police found Bs 3.53 million (about US$295,000) and US$10,000 in an ambulance leaving Mariaca’s condominium on 1 October. One detainee is his nephew, police say.
- —What it means for you Anyone with a criminal complaint in Bolivia faces a prosecution service in transition. New regional chief prosecutors are due soon.
- —Still open Who becomes the permanent attorney general, and when. Mariaca denies links to drug trafficking, and no charge against him has been proven.
Bolivia’s interim attorney general, José Armando Urioste, took office on Monday night, 5 October, when Vice President Edmand Lara swore him in. He replaces Roger Mariaca, whom the US government accused of taking bribes from drug traffickers. The handover ends a week-long crisis at the top of the agency that runs every criminal case in the country.
Urioste has 90 days in the job and promised to clean up an institution he described in blunt terms. “We are lifting the lid off the pot, and it smells very bad,” he said after the oath. Visión 360 and Brújula Digital carried the words.
Lara Ends the Standoff Over the Oath
Lara is Bolivia’s vice president and, by right, president of the Legislative Assembly. Swearing in the attorney general falls to him, not to the president.
On Sunday night he had said he would not swear Urioste in until he had checked the procedure, as reported in Bolivia Attorney General Oath in Doubt as Lara Objects. By Monday night he had done it.
He blamed Senate President Diego Ávila for sending the paperwork late, Visión 360 reported. Lara was in Spain and did not attend the session that elected Urioste. “There was no ulterior aim, there was no whim. What there was is respect for the Constitution and for legality,” Lara said, Brújula Digital reported.
He then gave the new chief prosecutor his mandate. “Your mission is to clean up the corruption that exists in the prosecution service,” he said. He told Urioste to respect due process and the presumption of innocence.
Congress elected Urioste early on Saturday 3 October, hours after removing Mariaca by more than two thirds of the votes. The vote is covered in Bolivia Picks Interim Attorney General After Five Votes.
Paz Sets Four Tasks for 90 Days
Earlier on Monday, President Rodrigo Paz, Bolivia’s head of state and government, honoured Urioste at a midday ceremony. It took place in the Palacio Quemado, the old government palace in La Paz. The state news agency ABI reported the event.
Paz stressed that it was not an oath, since that belongs to Lara. “Bolivia inherited an economic crisis and also a crisis of confidence in justice, and that has to change,” he wrote online.
He set four tasks. The first two are to restore the rule of law inside the service and to win back public trust. The third is independence from the government, parties, business interests and criminal groups. The fourth is to prepare a deeper overhaul.
Paz also said the government already has “pre-agreements” with international cooperation bodies to help modernise the service. Red Uno reported the remark. He did not name them.
What Urioste Promised
“I have not paid a single peso to be here,” Urioste told the palace audience, according to ABI. He said he was arriving at the worst moment for a prosecution service “badly stained by crime”.
He said all open cases would continue. Asked about the case of former presidential adviser Fernando Cerimedo, he told El Deber: “Everything will be investigated, absolutely everything.”
He announced audits and a review of cases where people may have been jailed or freed wrongly. Of extortion and illegal fees charged to citizens, he said: “That is going to end from this moment,” Urgente.bo reported.
At a press conference late on Monday he said no case would be halted, including those against former president Evo Morales and Cerimedo, eju.tv reported. He expects to name new regional chief prosecutors by next week. With no time for a formal merit contest, he invited lawyers with clean records to apply. In a separate interview he claimed a district prosecutor had told him he paid US$7,000 to be appointed, eju.tv reported. He named no one, and the claim has not been independently confirmed.
The Ambulance Case Widens
One of four men detained with cash in an ambulance is a court official and Mariaca’s nephew, El Deber reported on Monday. It cited the anti-drug police, known as Felcn.
Police stopped the ambulance on Thursday 1 October after it left the condominium in Santa Cruz where Mariaca lives. It carried Bs 3,532,100 (about US$295,000, at the Banco Central de Bolivia official rate of Bs 11.97 per dollar) and US$10,000 in three bags. ABI reported the same amounts.
According to El Deber, the nephew worked as a process officer at a civil court in Santa Cruz. He was carrying a civil case file that investigators say came out of Mariaca’s house. Why it was there is under investigation.
A La Paz judge ordered six months of pre-trial detention for Mariaca and the four men in this money laundering case. Mariaca is held in Cantumarca prison in Potosí, as reported in Bolivia Judge Orders Six Months Detention for Mariaca. At Sunday’s hearing he told the judge: “I am not a drug trafficker,” Erbol reported.
What It Means for You
For US readers, Washington set this chain in motion. On 28 September the State Department publicly designated Mariaca for “significant corruption”. That bars him and his close family from entering the United States.
Foreign residents, investors and travellers in Bolivia deal with the same prosecution service for fraud complaints, theft reports and business disputes. A change of regional chiefs may slow some cases in the short term.
There are stabilisers. Urioste won votes from both government and opposition legislators, he said, and Paz promises outside help to modernise the service. The risk is time: Urioste himself calls 90 days “a little short” for the task.
What Is Not Known
It is not known who will become the permanent attorney general, or when Congress will choose. Congress must first run a formal selection. Urioste said he will apply for the permanent post, Visión 360 reported.
Paz has not said which international bodies are behind the pre-agreements. It is also unclear whether Urioste’s claim of a US$7,000 payment will lead to a formal investigation.
Lara had questioned whether Mariaca’s removal was legal. He has not said whether he will pursue those objections. Mariaca and the others detained are presumed innocent, and no charge against them has been proven in court.
Who is Bolivia’s interim attorney general?
José Armando Urioste. Congress elected him on Saturday 3 October. Vice President Edmand Lara swore him in on Monday 5 October for a term of 90 days.
Why was Roger Mariaca removed?
Police detained him on 30 September, two days after the US State Department accused him of taking bribes to help drug traffickers. Congress removed him on 2 and 3 October. He denies links to drug trafficking.
Does this affect Americans in Bolivia?
Not directly. Travel and business continue as normal. The prosecution service handles criminal complaints, so foreigners with open cases may see changes of prosecutors or short delays.
Sources: ABI, Paz sets four challenges; ABI, Urioste pledges reforms; Visión 360; Brújula Digital; El Deber, ambulance detainee; El Deber, Urioste interview; eju.tv; Red Uno; Urgente.bo; eju.tv, press conference; Visión 360, Urioste to apply; Erbol; Banco Central de Bolivia, official exchange rate.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief