Sokol, Cerimedo and the price of losing trust

The departure of General Mirko Sokol from command of the Bolivian National Police should not be treated as an ordinary administrative change, the article argues. It came at a sensitive moment, as Bolivia works to rebuild security cooperation with the United States.

Just three days before Sokol left, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Erik Martini met with him. The U.S. Embassy highlighted Sokol’s work against crime and Washington had described him as a “true crime fighter.” That does not mean the United States should choose Bolivia’s police chief, but it shows that Sokol had gained credibility as Bolivia sought to restore counternarcotics cooperation with Washington.

His departure therefore leaves President Rodrigo Paz needing to offer more than an administrative explanation. The government must show that the change in command will not weaken investigations into police corruption or international cooperation against organized crime.

Sokol became central to an investigation after audio recordings emerged in which he discussed an alleged structure that had raised nearly $2 million to influence police appointments. The general acknowledged making the statements, while the courts must determine their scope and truth. If the allegations were false, they should be clarified. If they were true, the investigation should go further. What cannot happen, the article says, is for the departure of the person who raised the issue to effectively end the inquiry.

The Fernando Cerimedo case makes the situation more sensitive. Prosecutors are pursuing several investigations involving the Argentine consultant, including an attempted femicide complaint by Nadia Beller and another inquiry into alleged links to drug trafficking. A police officer was also reported to have acknowledged communications with Cerimedo before and after the attack on Beller. That contact does not by itself prove complicity, but it justifies establishing who communicated with him, what they discussed and whether those contacts matter to the investigations. The article says there is not enough public evidence to claim that Paz removed Sokol to protect Cerimedo, but the timing and political allegations require the government to clear up the questions.

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true crime fighter