Narcoterrorism in Bolivia: Paz links Marset's capture to 53-day crisis
President Rodrigo Paz stated that drug trafficking has infiltrated institutions and economic movements. He connected the social crisis to organised crime interests.
Paz alerts to narcoterrorism in Bolivia at business forum
President Rodrigo Paz declared this Friday, at the Cainco economic forum, that drug trafficking has penetrated institutions and financial structures of the country. According to El Deber, Paz maintained that the capture of Uruguayan Sebastián Marset on 13 March 2026 in Santa Cruz generated a "disequilibrium" at multiple levels of the criminal organisation that the accused had built in Bolivia.
"In this country there is narcoterrorism, in this country there are terrorists and there are drug traffickers," the president stated before forum attendees. He characterised Marset's detention—subsequently transferred to the United States to face charges for drug trafficking and money laundering—as a "turning point" in the fight against organised crime.
Paz detailed that the illegal power of drug trafficking reached different spheres: "Drug trafficking was closely linked to different levels of movements and finances," he noted. He added that this influence resulted in "crisis even at institutional level, because drug trafficking feeds institutions."
The president also linked the 53-day social crisis that preceded the declaration of a state of emergency to organised crime interests. "The 53 days were an attempt to break democracy and the constitutional structure of the country," he stated, placing that conflict within an offensive aimed at impeding his government's policies.
Marset's presence in Bolivian territory had been detected by intelligence bodies from several countries in late 2022. In July 2023, the Uruguayan managed to evade a police operation in Santa Cruz and remained a fugitive for more than two years under false identities. As a consequence of these events, officials from Segip and Migration were prosecuted judicially.
Source: El Deber