Bolivia arrests Attorney General Roger Mariaca after US drug-corruption accusation
Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca at Santa Cruz airport on Wednesday, two days after the US revoked the visa. The US accuses Mariaca of taking bribes to facilitate drug trafficking; Mariaca denies it and calls it political pressure.
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The story, neutrally told
Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday 30 September, two days after the United States revoked Mariaca's visa over alleged links to drug trafficking. CBS NewsLC “Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday, two days after the United States revoked his visa over alleged links to drug trafficking” Read at CBS News ↗ Anadolu AgencyN “Mariaca's detention came two days after the US revoked his visa” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Local media said Mariaca was detained at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, also sanctioned by Washington, was reportedly arrested too. CBS NewsLC “Local media said Mariaca had been detained at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz”“Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, who has likewise been sanctioned by Washington, was also arrested” Read at CBS News ↗ The Public Prosecutor's Office first denounced the arrest as illegal and said it did not know the reasons; a prosecutor in Sucre called it a "kidnapping" in a live broadcast while hooded police raided the office's headquarters. Anadolu AgencyN “which initially denounced the arrest as illegal and said it did not know the reasons for his detention” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ CBS NewsLC “Police also raided the prosecutor's offices in Sucre on Wednesday” Read at CBS News ↗
The US State Department said Mariaca solicited and accepted bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help violent criminals evade justice; it named nearly 20 people from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, and revoked the visas of 12 Bolivian officials. CBS NewsLC “The U.S. revoked the visas of 12 Bolivian officials” Read at CBS News ↗ Anadolu AgencyN “abusing his position by allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate narcotrafficking” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Mariaca denied the accusations, calling the US decision "interference" and "political pressure" in response to the office's investigations. CBS NewsLC “the decision is an act of "interference" and "political pressure" in response to his investigations” Read at CBS News ↗ Anadolu AgencyN “Mariaca rejected the US accusations as political pressure” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ On Thursday Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said an organisation embedded in the justice system and prosecutor's office had been dismantled, allegedly headed by Mariaca and meant to protect "narcoterrorism"; the government said 14 people were detained in the operation. Anadolu AgencyN ““An organization has been dismantled that was embedded in the justice system and the Public Prosecutor's Office,” Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters.”“The government said 14 people were detained during a police operation” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗
CBS News added background that Bolivia earlier this year handed the narcotics trafficker Sebastian Marset to US authorities. No formal charges against Mariaca are described in either report. CBS NewsLC “Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to U.S. authorities after being arrested in Bolivia” Read at CBS News ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Frames the arrest as following US accusations, led by the State Department's bribery claim, relying on AFP and Reuters sourcing.
- Emphasis
- US sanctions, the wider list of nearly 20 people, the raid and the office's objections, and the Marset handover.
- Leaves out or plays down
- The government's claim of a dismantled criminal network and the 14 detentions.
- For example
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“Bolivia arrests attorney general accused by U.S. of drug cartel ties” — CBS News
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Leads with the Bolivian government's allegation of a criminal organisation inside the prosecutor's office, citing state agency ABI.
- Emphasis
- Minister Oviedo's statements, the 14 detentions, and the scrutiny of the justice system.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Zeballos's arrest, the scale of the US list, and the Marset background.
- Charged language
- “narcoterrorism”“kidnapping”
- For example
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““destined to encourage and protect narcoterrorism in the country.”” — Anadolu Agency
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Mariaca was arrested/detained on Wednesday at Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, two days after the US revoked the visa.
- The US State Department accuses Mariaca of bribes to facilitate drug trafficking.
- Mariaca denies the accusations and calls them political pressure.
- A prosecutor's office official called the detention a kidnapping/abduction during a live broadcast and police raided the Sucre offices.
Where accounts differ
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Legitimacy and basis of the arrest
- Left
- CBS reports the prosecutor's office calling the intervention illegal and an 'abduction', and Mariaca calling the US move 'interference'.
- Centre
- Anadolu gives the government's account that a criminal organisation led by Mariaca was dismantled, alongside the office's 'kidnapping' complaint and Mariaca's denial.
Left2 articles
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Bolivia arrests attorney general accused by U.S. of drug cartel ties
Neutral Wire-sourced account stressing the US accusation and the prosecutor's office's protest of an illegal intervention.
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The IndependentLC · · via AP
Bolivia arrests top prosecutor and 13 others accused by US of protecting drug traffickers
Centre1 article
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Bolivia detains attorney general for alleged criminal organization
Neutral Relays the government's narrative of a dismantled criminal organisation alongside Mariaca's denial.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 1 Oct 11:31 First CBS NewsLC Bolivia arrests attorney general accused by U.S. of drug cartel ties
- 1 Oct 17:10 +5h 39m The IndependentLC Bolivia arrests top prosecutor and 13 others accused by US of protecting drug traffickers via AP
- 1 Oct 17:10 +5h 39m Anadolu AgencyN Bolivia detains attorney general for alleged criminal organization
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.