Former Chief Prosecutor Mariaca paid journalists to ensure favourable coverage, according to police
Police are investigating payments made by former chief prosecutor Róger Mariaca to alleged journalists in exchange for permanent favourable coverage. On the night of his arrest, he called one of them to request support from his colleagues.
Former Chief Prosecutor Mariaca used network of paid journalists to control his public image
Police Intelligence Services detected that former chief prosecutor Róger Mariaca maintained a network of payments to alleged journalists in exchange for favourable and permanent news coverage of his activities throughout the country. According to El Deber, police reports indicate that this scheme operated normally for more than two years, replicating Mariaca's image daily across all available platforms.
The alleged professionals linked to the former chief prosecutor were divided into two groups. Some were paid in advance, in some cases up to a year in advance, whilst others were paid monthly. The payments were known internally as "el pasanaco" and coordination was managed by the Communications Department of the Prosecutor's Office. Following the publication of each report, prosecutors and Prosecutor's Office staff were additionally required to comment on their social media highlighting Mariaca's management.
The call on the night of detention
On the night of 30 September, when Mariaca and former departmental prosecutor of Santa Cruz, Alberto Zeballos, were detained at Viru Viru airport, police Intelligence recorded a telephone call from Mariaca to a journalist. According to reports, he told him: "you've already received your advance payment, please tell your colleagues to support me and they will be rewarded".
Police have also recorded multiple journeys by communications professionals in a latest-model white Toyota Runner vehicle to cover activities of the then chief prosecutor and publish the content immediately. The images captured show the occupants travelling to provinces and different districts across the country with per diems and their monthly bonus. On one of those trips they were recorded consuming alcoholic beverages.
Green shirts and links with the Prosecutor's Office
Prior to the detention and the withdrawal of a visa by the United States State Department, a group of these alleged journalists was documented travelling to various points in Santa Cruz and other districts wearing green shirts and ties, the same clothing that Prosecutor's Office staff wore by instruction of the then chief prosecutor.
Police are currently investigating whether the expensive vehicle delivered to the communications professionals belongs to the Prosecutor's Office. It cannot be ruled out that the vehicle was seized and is in the possession of the Prosecutor's Office as a depositary.
Four prisons and multiple defendants
Mariaca remains detained by judicial order at Cantumarca prison in Potosí, charged with drug trafficking, organised crime and money laundering. Zeballos is held in El Abra in Cochabamba on the same charges. In La Paz prisons are detained former superior prosecutor Martín Daniel Irusta and captain Rubén Aparicio. Also incarcerated in La Paz are four men discovered in an ambulance with a large quantity of money in dollars and bolivianos identified as property of Mariaca.
Source: El Deber