The controversy surrounding former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero reached the Bolivian Congress. A group of senators from the Unity Alliance requested the formation of a special commission to investigate the alleged interference of the socialist leader in the internal affairs of the country during the regime of Luis Arce.
The parliamentary initiative arises after the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of Spain included in an investigation a report stating that Zapatero allegedly received 200,000 euros for intervening with Bolivian authorities on behalf of the Peruvian conglomerate Grupo Gloria, which was involved in an economic dispute with the Bolivian state.
The senators believe that this background justifies an investigation to determine whether there were actions that could have affected Bolivian sovereignty or influenced decisions of state institutions. They indicated that the commission will seek to gather information about the contacts maintained by Zapatero with authorities of the previous regime and establish whether there was any type of interference in the internal affairs of the country.
Suspicions increased after conversations included in the judicial file in Spain became known. In those messages, attributed to Zapatero and his secretary, there are references to the need to contact the then dictator of Bolivia, Luis Arce, in the context of the efforts related to the investigated case.
