Romer Saucedo, president of Bolivia’s Supreme Court, says he left the country after receiving death threats and fearing for his family’s safety. (Foto: Instagram)
Romer Saucedo, president of Bolivia’s Supreme Court of Justice, said he left the country on Thursday, Nov. 5, after receiving death threats and fearing for his family’s safety. His reported departure comes as he faces at least two criminal investigations, including one involving alleged trafficking in controlled substances and criminal association. Saucedo has accused the center-right government of President Rodrigo Paz of politically persecuting him.
Bolivia’s Public Ministry said an arrest warrant had been issued for Saucedo. Acting Attorney General José Armando Urioste said the agency would ask Interpol to issue a red notice to help locate the 38-year-old judge. Urioste did not detail what investigators believe Saucedo’s role may have been in the alleged crimes. He said the investigations are confidential and involve protected witnesses.
In a post on X on Nov. 4, Saucedo said he feared imprisonment or death for challenging political interests. He cited the killing of Víctor Hugo Claure, a judge on the Agro-Environmental Tribunal who was shot to death in Santa Cruz in April. Saucedo wrote that Claure had been killed for opposing corrupt interests and accused people who have concealed the circumstances of the killing of being complicit. He said he did not want to suffer the same fate.
Saucedo also alleged that political actors were building false narratives against him and might fabricate evidence to discredit him. He said he believed the government wanted to turn him into a legal target and use him as a prize in its effort to take control of the judiciary. In the post, he recounted that voters in the Santa Cruz region had backed him with more than 740,000 votes, making him the country’s most-voted candidate for the Supreme Court. He said he would not resign and planned to return to Bolivia when he and his family were safe. Saucedo also denied that criminal cases were pending against him, while saying he expected new actions to be brought.
Bolivia’s Supreme Court said it would wait six days for Saucedo to return before selecting a new president. During that period, senior judge Rosmery Ruiz will carry out the duties of the position. If Saucedo does not report back within the deadline, he could lose the post. Although Saucedo said he had left Bolivia, authorities have not confirmed that he crossed the border. Urioste said migration records showed Saucedo entered Bolivia on Nov. 3, with no subsequent departure recorded. Officials’ main suspicion was that he had crossed the border by land.
The investigation is unfolding amid a series of operations targeting members of Bolivia’s judicial system. Since October, senior officials have been detained on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking. Former Attorney General Roger Mariaca was among them; he was arrested after the United States canceled the visas of Mariaca and other Bolivian, Colombian, Peruvian and Ecuadorian officials and businesspeople. 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 linked Saucedo’s reported departure to the Mariaca case, saying many of Mariaca’s accomplices and people involved in crime were fleeing.
Paz addressed Saucedo’s case on Wednesday, Nov. 4, during a business meeting in Spain, saying the judge had left amid a series of accusations and investigations involving Bolivia’s judicial system. Saucedo became Supreme Court president in January 2025 and supported government initiatives to increase institutional transparency. He has also acknowledged being friends with Nadia Beller, a former congressional candidate who survived an attempted assassination in August and accused a former presidential adviser of involvement in the attack.
