target senior court officials. President Donald Trump's administration has backed several recent arrests of high-ranking Bolivian judicial officials over alleged links to drug trafficking. Last month, former attorney general Roger Mariaca was detained two days after the United States blacklisted him for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate drug trafficking. On Wednesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Romer Saucedo said he had left Bolivia, accusing center-right President Rodrigo Paz's government of "attempts at persecution and intimidation”. "I am in exile with my entire family”, he wrote on X. "I know they're going to plant evidence to discredit me”, he added, without specifying what he is accused of or where he is now.

There are no known probes into Saucedo, who has immunity as head of Bolivia's highest court. Interim Attorney General Jose Armando Urioste, appointed to the position by Congress after Mariaca's arrest, told reporters late Wednesday that his office had issued an arrest warrant the day before for "trafficking controlled substances and delinquent association”, though he did not specify Saucedo was involved in those charges. Saucedo's departure was "painful news, but it's encouraging for the future”, Paz said during a business meeting in Spain. Saucedo "is leaving the country because there are a number of accusations or investigations regarding our model of the judicial system”, Paz added, without providing further details. Court magistrates appointed Rosmery Ruiz, the body's most senior member, as the acting Supreme Court chief justice due to Saucedo's ‘temporary absence’, though he has said he does not plan to resign. If Saucedo does not return to the court within the next six days, he could lose his post. The Paz administration is one of several Latin American governments seeking closer ties with Washington, and in March Bolivia joined Trump's "Shield of the Americas" alliance. The loosely defined partnership aims to crack down on drug trafficking across the region. (Bssnews)