Spanish
La Paz.- The Justice determined this Friday to release and impose five months of psychological therapy on Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira, eldest son of the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, accused by the Prosecutor's Office for a case of domestic violence against his partner.
"The judge has ordered that the defendant receive five months of psychological therapy. The Public Prosecutor's Office does not agree with that decision," declared the prosecutor of the case, Jéssica Echeverría, to the local media.You may be interested in: Bolivia goes to a polarized second round of elections with aggression between candidates
The prosecutor explained that in the precautionary measures hearing, she presented a certificate that accredits 12 days of impediment for the victim, due to the blows she received, and during this time a position of protection was assumed despite the fact that she withdrew her complaint. Following the court's decision, the Prosecutor's Office announced the respective appeal "to guarantee the protection of the victim," said Echeverría. He added that "it's not the first time" that the woman was a victim of "physical and psychological violence" by Arce Mosqueira, which is why he believes that "she was pressured" to drop the complaint. The Attorney General's Office arrested the president's son yesterday, one month after the arrest warrant was issued against him on September 20 in the city of Santa Cruz (east). That same day, President Arce stated on X that: "any complaint against my children, who are of legal age and fully responsible for their actions, must be investigated and clarified before the relevant authorities as with any other citizen." He also clarified that his position on these issues is given "beyond" his status as President of Bolivia, but "as a father who respects the laws" of the country. Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira was also denounced a few years ago by deputy Héctor Arce, loyal to former president Evo Morales (2006-2019), for allegedly acting as an intermediary between the State and companies vying for lithium projects, without being a public official, based on a recording that was broadcast. The Prosecutor's Office admitted the complaint for this case in October 2023, but in April 2024 it rejected it, considering that the audio could not be taken as evidence and that Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira was not part of the state-owned Yacimientos del Litio Bolivianos (YLB). However, these two are not the only complaints against the president's children, but there is a process involving his other two children. The case that drew attention became known a couple of months ago, through the journalistic platform Conectas, and relates the president's youngest son, Rafael Ernesto, to the purchase of a plot of land of more than 2,100 hectares for 3.3 million dollars in 2021, when he was 25 years old. The property is intended for the production of corn and soy in the eastern department of Santa Cruz, the largest region and economic engine of Bolivia. It was later learned that this transaction was not the only one, as Rafael Ernesto, along with his sister Camila Arce Mosqueira, who was twenty years old at the time, obtained loans for 9.1 million dollars, made in six operations with the same banking entity in October 2021. For this last case, the Prosecutor's Office reopened an investigation at the end of July of this year that had been closed in mid-2024. In addition to this, President Arce was recently denounced for abandoning a pregnant woman, a former state official with whom he allegedly had a child and who, according to the complainant, the head of state refused to recognize.
