The scandal first broke on 10 December when the minister for transparency and anti-corruption efforts, Nardi Suxo, announced that four people had been arrested in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, accused of forming a corruption ring in YPFB’s communications unit. A further two people have been arrested in relation to the allegations which centre on the fact that various companies, identified as Omnimedia, Structura Colibrí, Agencia Publicitaria, Bravo and Bell Comunicaciones, linked to the suspects, benefited via influence-trafficking from contracts worth between B$2.5m and B$3m (US$364,000–US$437,000). At the heart of the scandal is the former YPFB communications director, Selva Camacho, who has also accused YPFB president, Carlos Villegas, of sexual harassment.
The last major scandal involving YPFB took place back in 2009 – the worst to hit the Morales government since it took office in 2006 – and forced the resignation of Santos Ramírez [WR-09-05], a close ally of Morales and founder of the MAS. Yet for the time being the government is sticking by Villegas. On 12 December the minister for the presidency, Juan Ramón Quintana, issued a statement reiterating the government’s confidence in him. Yet this could change given the unexpected importance that the issue of sexual harassment and gender violence had ahead of October’s general elections, in which allegations regarding such charges forced various candidates to step aside [WR-14-40].
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