The former Bolivian president Luis Arce rejects any influence peddling and assures that his relationship with Zapatero was political

The former president of Bolivia Luis Arce has emphatically rejected any participation in the alleged efforts attributed to the former head of the Spanish Executive José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to favor business interests in Bolivia. His response comes after a report by the Economic and Financial Crime Unit (UDEF) pointed to the Spanish politician for alleged intermediation work benefiting the Peruvian group Gloria, majority owner of the cement company Soboce, in exchange for an alleged economic compensation of 200,000 euros. Faced with these accusations, Arce assures that he never intervened to favor any private company and maintains that his relationship with Zapatero was limited to the institutional and political sphere.

Through a publication disseminated on social media, the former Bolivian president, who has been in pre-trial detention since December for an investigation related to alleged acts of corruption, denied any irregular actions during his time leading the Government.

“I was not and am not involved in any influence peddling that has favored Soboce (Bolivian Cement Company) or any other private company,” Arce affirmed.

The former president also addressed suspicions linking him to the efforts attributed to Zapatero and assured that the contacts maintained with the former Spanish socialist leader were exclusively linked to political issues. As he explained, the conversations revolved around the mediation that the former head of the Spanish Executive exercised during the internal crisis of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in the period prior to the elections scheduled for 2025.

The controversy originates from a dispute that has pitted the cement company Soboce and the state-owned Fancesa against each other for more than ten years over the ownership of shares whose possession would allow the former to expand its production capacity. The Peruvian group Gloria, majority shareholder of Soboce, later joined the conflict, claiming economic compensation from the Bolivian State. Luis Arce defended that this dispute predates his Government and stressed that his Executive appealed a judicial resolution favorable to Soboce, thus rejecting having favored the company. Furthermore, he recalled that the case is still awaiting a definitive decision from the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP) and that no payment related to the litigation has been made.The UDEF report

The controversy gained strength after a report prepared by the UDEF of the Spanish National Police became known. The document states that Zapatero would have participated in a “dynamic of intermediation and influences” aimed at favoring the interests of the Gloria group before the Bolivian authorities.

The investigators point to the existence of a supposed economic consideration of 200,000 euros and base part of their conclusions on WhatsApp conversations exchanged between the former Spanish president and his secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, in addition to several notes collected in their personal agendas.