Domestic violence. Son of Bolivian President released

The son of Bolivian President Luis Arce, detained as part of an investigation into "domestic violence," was released by a judge who sentenced him to five months of psychological counseling, the Public Prosecutor's Office announced.

Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira, 33, was arrested on Thursday after the Public Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant in mid-September on charges of "family or domestic violence."

In images released by local media, the accused is seen leaving a courtroom in Santa Cruz, eastern Bolivia, on Friday, with his face covered by a cap and surgical mask.

The judge "ordered him to undergo therapy for five months. The Public Prosecutor's Office objected (...) and we immediately appealed," the prosecutor in charge of the case, Jessica Echeverria, told the press. The judge added that the victim appeared at the hearing accompanied by her lawyer, requesting that the charges be dropped.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the judge reclassified the case as “deferred conciliation,” a procedure designed to allow both parties to reach an amicable agreement.

The Public Prosecutor's Office had requested the preventive detention of Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira for 180 days.

President Luis Arce did not comment on the case involving his son.

Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira, a father of three, is also the subject of a complaint filed by a former mining authority employee who accuses him of abandoning the family when she became pregnant in 2024. The case is currently under investigation.

Luis Arce has decided not to run for president again, as the right-wing party gains a majority in Bolivia's parliament after two decades of overwhelming dominance by the Movement for Socialism (MAS – left). Bolivians will go to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president between Jorge Quiroga of the Free Alliance and Rodrigo Paz Pereira of the Christian Democratic Party, in an unprecedented runoff election in the South American country.

In the first round on August 17, center-right senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira – son of former President Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-1993) – obtained 32.06% of the votes, while conservative and former Bolivian head of state Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002) achieved 26.70%.