Bolivia’s Supreme Court President Romer Saucedo faces possible removal if he does not return to the country within five days, amid an arrest order and criminal investigation. (Foto: Instagram)
Romer Saucedo, president of Bolivia’s Supreme Court, could lose his position if he does not return to the country within five days. The 38-year-old judge says he left after receiving death threats and fearing for his family’s safety. Bolivia’s Public Ministry has ordered his arrest, and he is under criminal investigation.
On Thursday, Nov. 5, the court decided to wait six days for Saucedo to appear before considering the selection of a new president. Rosmery Ruiz, the court’s senior judge, will temporarily take over his duties during that period. The five-day deadline cited for Saucedo’s possible loss of office and the court’s six-day wait were both reported as part of the proceedings.
Saucedo says the government of center-right President Rodrigo Paz is politically persecuting him. In a post on X, he said he feared being arrested or killed because he had challenged political interests in the country. He pointed to the April shooting death of Víctor Hugo Claure, a member of Bolivia’s Agro-Environmental Court, in Santa Cruz. Saucedo said Claure was killed for opposing the interests of people involved in corruption and wrote that he did not want the same thing to happen to him.
Authorities have not confirmed that Saucedo left Bolivia. Acting Attorney General José Armando Urioste said immigration records show the judge entered the country on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but contain no record of his departure. Authorities suspect he may have crossed the border by land. Saucedo says he intends to return when he and his family are safe, denies having active criminal cases and has rejected the suggestion that he resigned as court president.
The Public Ministry said it issued an arrest order for Saucedo on Wednesday, Nov. 4, on suspicion of trafficking controlled substances and criminal association. Urioste did not describe the judge’s alleged role in those offenses. He said the investigation is confidential and involves protected witnesses, and announced that he would ask Interpol to issue a red notice to help locate Saucedo.
The investigation is unfolding amid operations against members of Bolivia’s judicial system. Since October, authorities have arrested senior officials suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, including former Attorney General Roger Mariaca. The arrests followed the United States’ cancellation of visas for Mariaca and other officials and businesspeople from Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. The U.S. government accuses Mariaca of taking bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help violent criminals evade justice.
Bolivia’s Deputy Interior Minister Peter Maldonado connected the Mariaca case to Saucedo’s reported departure, saying people linked to the former attorney general and criminal activity were also leaving the country. On Wednesday, President Paz said Saucedo’s departure was related to investigations into Bolivia’s judicial system. Saucedo took over as Supreme Court president in January 2025 and supported government efforts to increase transparency in public institutions.
