Bolivian court orders former President jailed for five months on corruption charges Today World News

A Bolivian court on Friday (December 12, 2025) ordered the country’s former President, Luis Arce, to remain detained for five months while he awaits trial on corruption charges, the latest development in a case that threatens to exacerbate Bolivia’s political tensions.

Mr. Arce, 62, a leader from Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism party, was elected in 2020 and left office a month ago following the election of Bolivia’s first right-wing leader in nearly two decades. He strongly denies the charges of breach of duty and financial misconduct. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted.

Two days after Mr. Arce’s sudden arrest on the streets of Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, a judge ordered his detention in a virtual hearing on Friday (December 12). Mr. Arce was transferred to one of Bolivia’s largest prisons in La Paz at night. No trial date was announced.

The accusations concern the alleged diversion of millions of dollars from a State fund into private accounts and date back to when Mr. Arce served as Economy Minister under former President Evo Morales from 2006 until 2017.

Although the scandal first broke in 2017, investigations into the alleged graft stalled during Mr. Morales’ presidency, as Bolivia’s courts proved submissive to the prevailing political power. The case was reopened when conservative President Rodrigo Paz took office last month, ending almost two decades of dominance by the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party.

Paz campaigned on a promise to clean up the government and seek justice for corruption as he rode to power on a wave of outrage over Bolivia’s worst economic crisis in four decades. Mr. Arce criticised the charges as political persecution.

“I’m a scapegoat,” he told the judge, insisting that he had no personal involvement in the government fund under scrutiny, which supported the Indigenous people and peasant farmers who formed the backbone of MAS support. “The accusations are politically motivated.”

Officials involved in the previous iteration of the investigation say Mr. Arce is accused of siphoning off money from rural development projects to secure loyalty from MAS-allied unions and Indigenous leaders during election campaigns.

Mr. Morales was elected to three consecutive terms, but was ousted in 2019 when his reelection to an unprecedented fourth term sparked accusations of fraud and mass protests. Mr. Arce’s lawyers asked the judge to grant his release pending trial, citing the former President’s battle with kidney cancer several years ago.

However, Judge Elmer Laura denied the appeal and even exceeded the prosecution’s request of three months in a juvenile detention centre by ordering five months in a State prison. “These are crimes that directly affect State assets and resources that were allocated to vulnerable sectors,” Ms. Laura said.