Juan Santos Cruz, former environment Minister of Environment tendered his resignation to the Bolivian president over the weekend, describing it as "irrevocable." The decision came to light following revelations of an ongoing investigation into his alleged involvement in bribe collection.
Former Environment and Water, Juan Santos Cruz has been requested by the Bolivian Prosecutor's Office to be placed in preventive detention for a period of six months at the San Pedro prison in La Paz. Cruz is facing accusations of alleged illicit enrichment.
According to William Alave, the departmental prosecutor of La Paz, the Public Ministry is awaiting the scheduling of a hearing by the Bolivian Justice system, during which they will request Cruz's preventive detention. The request follows Cruz's "irrevocable" resignation to President Luis Arce over the weekend, prompted by the revelation of an ongoing investigation into his alleged involvement in bribe collection within the Ministry.
Arrested and Resigned: Former Bolivian Minister Faces Charges of Illicit Enrichment
Cruz voluntarily appeared at the Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday, where he was subsequently arrested. In a letter, he stated his decision to resign in order to defend himself as a natural person and reiterated his commitment to working for the benefit of Bolivians "as a soldier of the process of change."
The Bolivian Prosecutor's Office asked six months of preventive detention in the San Pedro prison, in La Paz, for the former Minister of Environment and Water Juan Santos Cruz, accused of alleged illicit enrichment.
(Read Also: Unemployment Rate Fell from 11% to 4.3% Between 2020 and 2022 in Bolivia: Labor Minister)
Bolivia's Corruption Perception Index Improves Slightly, But Challenges Remain
According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2022 by Transparency International, Bolivia has been ranked 126th out of 180 countries, scoring 31 out of 100.
The CPI serves as an assessment of how corrupt the public sector of each country is perceived to be, as determined by experts and individuals involved in business, according to Transparency International's explanation.
In this index, a score of zero represents the highest level of corruption, while a score of 100 signifies the lowest level of corruption. Bolivia's rating of 31 indicates a one-point improvement compared to the previous year.