Drug trafficker Sebastián Marset during the interview with Channel 4 from Uruguay, broadcast on November 26, 2023.
The Sebastián Marset case seemed to have been forgotten by Bolivian politics, months after it was rocked by the flight of drug traffickers from that country. The interview he conducted with Uruguayan broadcaster Channel 4 changed things, reopened wounds and once again stirred the hornet’s nest, although authorities deny that the fugitive has made any real revelations.
“This is a media operation. We have seen sensationalism about the drug trade, it seems that there are people who want to normalize the drug trade. It is unfortunate that this is not happening within the national territory but outside our borders,” Eduardo del Castillo, the Bolivian government minister (Minister of the Interior), told Uruguayan media.
In front of the television camera, in the part of the interview in which he referred to his escape from Santa Cruz de la Sierra on July 29 this year, Marset reiterated that he had been “warned” that he was about to fall and that he was righteous as he was able to escape with several members of his family. He had already said this in a video that circulated in the Bolivian media shortly after his escape and even personally accused a police chief. It was his reaction to the Bolivian authorities’ accusation that he had kidnapped a police officer to escape them. Although his statements to the media can be seen as unnecessary risks due to the secrecy, they always have a legal purpose: they provide background information for the timing of an eventual arrest, a possibility of which Marset is very aware, as can be seen from the interview.
Del Castillo came forward and denied that the police had helped the Uruguayan criminal. He argued that they seized a large sum of cash from one of his homes, showing he had to leave quickly because “not even the biggest drug dealer has $440,000 left.”
Marset also spoke about this money, but in a different sense: he criticized the fact that the police only offered a reward of $100,000 and not the total amount withheld, and suggested that law enforcement authorities pay the remaining $300,000. would keep dollars. “This is Bolivia,” he exclaimed. On his personal scale of police corruption, the Uruguayan police ranks highest, while the Bolivian police ranks worst. This statement reflects local beliefs. At the same time, the Bolivian police are less violent than their counterparts in other countries. Hence the concern caused by the growth of the drug trade and the presence of large corporations like Marset in the country.
According to Del Castillo, the Uruguayan is a top drug trafficker who spent more than $10 million in the few months he lived in Santa Cruz. Although authorities couldn’t stop him, they launched the largest anti-drug operation in history against him, with dozens of raids, arrests and multiple trials. After the interview, these processes moved. Prosecutors called for statements from 10 people imprisoned because of their relationships with Marset. An appeals court denied Erland Ivar García López, alias Colla, considered the drug trafficker’s right-hand man, the conditional release he had obtained in a lower court. In addition, the public prosecutor’s office will prosecute the judge who granted his freedom for abuse of office. Although authorities deny that these actions are related to media scrutiny of the main subject of the investigation, the truth is that Marset’s penchant for the spotlight did not favor his supposedly close friends in Bolivia.
The political controversy surrounding this case was also reignited. Politicians who follow former President Evo Morales and have become the main opponents of the government of his former colleague Luis Arce accuse Del Castillo of protecting the drug trade. The rest of the opposition believes that the two wings into which the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) is divided are equally linked to this crime. Such accusations have been the battlehorse of Bolivian politics since the drug war began in the 1980s. Marset’s actions and statements have confirmed all Bolivian politicians in their mutual assumptions. However, there is no parliamentary inquiry as the MAS department has turned the legislative assembly into a “no man’s land”. With many difficulties and a very long time, the government has barely managed to approve the changes in the general budget of the state. Other laws are lying dormant in the archives and it is difficult for the situation to change in the short term.
A more conciliatory stance was taken by Senate President Adrónico Rodríguez, who despite his closeness to Morales is trying not to completely break with the Arce government. Rodríguez was recently re-elected with opposition support, overcoming the Bolivian president’s rejection of his candidacy. “This is an issue that affects not only the image of a minister but also that of the country,” he explained. And he called for judicial investigations to clarify the responsibilities of the various security agencies in Marset’s escape.
Although Del Castillo was outraged by the interview, it gave him some relief because it led international intelligence agencies to believe that the drug traffickers were outside Bolivia. “I am convinced that he is in Paraguay,” the Bolivian minister told the press. The Uruguayan journalist who interviewed him traveled to that country, although she also took other unregistered flights after landing. And in this country, the Paraguayan police are now looking for him with the support of Interpol.