Bolivia's Attorney General arrested on drug trafficking charges; US praises country's "leadership"
Roger Mariaca, Bolivia's Attorney General, was arrested on suspicion of links to drug trafficking. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the measure.
Bolivia arrests its Attorney General on drug trafficking charges and receives backing from Washington
Roger Mariaca, Bolivia's Attorney General, was detained on Wednesday night in the city of Santa Cruz by Bolivian police officers. According to clarin.com, the authorities attribute to him the offences of criminal organisation, money laundering and drug trafficking. In the same operation, Alberto Zeballos, the prosecutor for that jurisdiction, and another Bolivian official previously sanctioned by Washington were arrested.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrated the arrest with a message on X network. "Bolivia's actions demonstrate the type of leadership necessary to make our hemisphere safer, stronger and more prosperous," Rubio declared. The Trump Administration, he added, "firmly supports President Rodrigo Paz and Bolivia's democratically elected government in taking bold and decisive action to combat drug trafficking, systemic corruption and transnational organised crime".
Last week, Rubio had already cancelled visas for Mariaca and dozens of senior officials and judges from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The revocation of visas to enter or transit through the United States forms part of growing collaboration among member countries of the Shield of the Americas, the security coalition created by President Donald Trump in March last during a summit in Florida.
Beyond diplomatic measures and sanctions, Washington has taken direct military prominence in the region. The Pentagon maintains a campaign of attacks against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and its forces participate in operations in the Ecuadorian jungle, in addition to historical collaboration with Colombia.
The leaders of the Shield of the Americas promised, in a summit parallel to the UN General Assembly, to take "collective measures" against 24 organised crime groups that Washington officially categorises as "narcoterrorists".
Source: Google News BO — Crime