00:00Now in Bolivia, the Prosecutor's Office investigating an alleged investment of the Indigenous Fund
00:05has requested three months of preventive detention for former President Luis Arce,
00:10who was arrested Wednesday in La Paz.
00:12Analysts warned that repiving this case may amount to an early act of political persecution by the new government.
00:20Our correspondent, Freddy Morales, has the details.
00:22Former President Luis Arce remains in custody at this police facility following his arrest on Wednesday.
00:33The Prosecutor handling the case has requested that he be held for three months in a prison located 30 kilometers outside the city.
00:43The investigations established responsibility on the part of Mr. Luis Arce as former minister,
00:48since he was the one who financed, executed, and approved disbursements into private accounts for projects that we never completed.
00:55As for the economic damage, based on the documentation currently held by the Public Prosecutor's Office,
01:01we are talking about nine minutes, but that's only a preliminary figure.
01:04The total amount is still known.
01:08The investigation into the case known as the Indigenous Fund dates back more than eight years
01:14and has already been examined both in court and by the Legislative Assembly.
01:19It has now been reopened with former President Luis Arce as the main accused,
01:24along with arrest warrants issued for five other individuals.
01:28We don't want to believe that the government of Rodrigo Paz
01:31carried out this arrest as smoke cream to cover up the crisis that continues to affect the Bolivian people.
01:35We're still standing in lines. This is still short of a few.
01:42And this is what they should be focusing on.
01:47Political analysis has warned that the arrest of former President Luis Arce to reopen investigations
01:52was an early and ill-advised decision.
01:58Rodrigo Paz has repeatedly said that first there should be an investigation and then prosecution.
02:03But in this case, what has been done is to first arrest the former President
02:10and now, presumably, investigate.
02:17I do not believe that this is a viable political course of action.
02:25Following the arrest of the former President,
02:27allies of the center-right government launched a campaign calling for former President,
02:32Evo Morales, who governed the country in 2018,
02:36to also be included in the case and detained.
02:42Evo Morales is also being summoned, initially as a witness.
02:45But when a prosecutor says, first as a witness,
02:48it is clear that later he'll be treated as a defendant.
02:51It is unfortunate that the Paz Pereira government
02:53has chosen to take these accelerated steps
02:56at a time when it could have played a different role.
02:59The administration has a very contradictory internal composition.
03:03It is not a cohesive government.
03:05It even has a major rival within its own ranks,
03:09the Vice President himself.
03:10I believe this is a political mistake,
03:13regardless of the legal form they try to give it.
03:15Conflicting figures surround the Indigenous Fund case.
03:23The Minister of Government stated that there was mismanagement of about $50 million,
03:28a sum that could rise to $700 million,
03:31and said former President Luis Arce would face charges for five crimes.
03:36In contrast, the prosecutor's indictment cites to alleged offenses,
03:40and an economic loss of just over $1 million.
03:44Freddy Morales, Telesur, Bolivia.
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