Bolivia's Minister of Health arrested and dismissed for alleged corruption

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Bolivian Attorney General Juan Lanchipa at a press conference.

(CNN Spanish) - The Bolivian Minister of Health, Marcelo Navajas, was apprehended this Wednesday by the Police in coordination with the Prosecutor's Office on charges of crimes of public corruption. Navajas was taken to the offices of the Special Force to Fight Crime to give a statement in the investigation for the alleged irregular purchase of 170 respirators to fight covid-19. The formal imputation by the Public Ministry is still awaited.

Navajas' apprehension was confirmed to the press by the Commanding General of the Space Force to Fight Crime, Colonel Iván Rojas.

Rosario Canedo, a lawyer for the former minister, said in contact with the press that his client is innocent of irregularities in the acquisition of the respirators and denounced that the arrest of Navajas violated his rights. She also stated that she suffered moral and psychological violence.

Hours later, at a press conference from the Government Palace, the Minister of Communication, Isabel Fernández, reported that the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, decided to remove Navajas and all public officials who are under investigation for the purchase with alleged surcharge of 170 respirators.

Earlier, Juan Lanchipa, the attorney general of Bolivia, announced at a press conference that the departmental prosecutor of La Paz has been instructed to carry out an investigation of the authors and participants in the acquisition of 170 respirators of Spanish origin that the Ministry of Health in the framework of the declaration of sanitary emergency in the country by the covid-19.

The attorney general also referred to the arrests that took place on Tuesday of the legal director of the Ministry of Health, Fernando Valenzuela, and the director of the Agency for Healthcare Infrastructure, Medical Equipment, Giovanni Pacheco, as well as two other officials from that agency. All will be put to the consideration of the jurisdictional authority to define their procedural situation.

Giovanni Pacheco's defense attorney, Rosvi Zapata, said in contact with the state channel on Wednesday that his client is accused of contracts harmful to the state, but that, in this case, he is only an executor of the provisions of the Ministry of Health. The defenders of the other detainees have not yet spoken.

Last May 18, at a press conference, the now former minister Navajas denied that there was a price premium on the purchase of the respirators, but acknowledged that $ 27,683 was paid for each of them.

"We bought them for an amount of $ 27,683 per unit through the Inter-American Development Bank, complying with the procedures established by Supreme Decree 4274 of March 4, 2020, which authorizes the direct acquisition of equipment for the attention of the health emergency, Navajas said.

The attorney general added: “The prosecutors commission will establish the degree of participation of each one of those involved and linked in the flow of the direct purchase contracting process, from the requesting unit to the conclusion of the acquisition process; in addition to the participation of Bolivian public servants abroad, via the Foreign Ministry, if indeed there is the participation of intermediary companies, the number of suppliers that appeared. Additionally, we are going to request, by the diplomatic instances, a report to the Inter-American Development Bank ”(sic).

Through a recorded message, Áñez expressed his outrage and annoyance at the alleged corruption and urged that a transparent investigation be carried out "whoever falls."

The president promised to "work so that every penny that was stolen is returned." She also said that she will push for the full weight of the law to fall on those responsible for this alleged act of corruption.

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