Bolivia's Morales accused of Lava Jato involvement

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who seeks to run for a fourth straight mandate next year, has been accused of favoring Brazilian construction firms, making him the latest Latin American leader to be caught up in the region-wide corruption scandal known as Lava Jato.

Former president Carlos Mesa (2003-2005), who is also under investigation for allegedly receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Camargo Correa, sent congress a letter stating that the infrastructure contracts were approved by the caretaker government of Eduardo Rodríguez and the subsequent administration of Morales.

Mesa, who resigned in June 2005 amidst protests spearheaded by Morales, cited a Brazilian police report that states US$4mn in bribes were paid into banks in the US, Brazil and Bolivia between September 2005 and August 2008 in exchange for the Roboré-El Carmen highway contract. Rodríguez governed Bolivia until Morales took office in January 2006.

A group of congressmen from Morales' MAS party allegedly met with Camargo Correa officials in Brazil in 2005 as part of a plan to push through legislation favoring the company's contract, La Paz-based newspaper La Razón reported, citing Mesa's lawyer Carlos Alarcón.

Morales, who in April ordered a special committee in congress to investigate Mesa, denied any involvement.

"Carlos Mesa has 24 hours to present evidence or retract. Otherwise he will have to face the consequences," Morales said in broadcast comments. "He shouldn't mess with the indigenist movement. I'm not a coward or a crook like Mesa."

Camargo Correa and fellow Brazilian firms Andrade Gutierrez, OAS, Queiroz Galvao and Odebrecht were all awarded infrastructure contracts in Bolivia during the governments of presidents Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-1997, 2002-2003), Mesa and Rodríguez. Opposition politicians such as former president Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002) claim Morales' government is also involved in the Lava Jato scandal.

Odebrecht in December 2016 admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to secure contracts across Latin America. The corruption case has already led to the ouster of presidents in Brazil and Peru and the imprisonment of high-ranking government officials in Peru, Ecuador and Panama. Leaders from Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic have also been accused of receiving illegal payments.