LatinNews Daily - 12 February 2026

*The director of Bolivia’s national hydrocarbons agency (ANH), Margot Ayala, has announced her resignation amid ongoing controversy over the distribution of contaminated fuel by state hydrocarbon company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB). Speaking at a press conference, Ayala said that she was stepping aside “to preserve my professional and personal integrity”. She claimed that “our work to clean up the ANH and our progress with investigations into irregularities have affected the interests of a large corruption network” that she said was now seeking to discredit her. Meanwhile, Vice President Edmand Lara, who is estranged from President Rodrigo Paz, yesterday announced that he was presenting a formal corruption allegation against the YPFB president, Yussef Akly, for alleged anti-economic conduct, illicit enrichment, dereliction of duty, and for awarding contracts that are harmful to the State. Lara said that media investigations have shown that Akly “signed contracts with the [Singapore-based commodities] company Trafigura in which irregularities have been detected, [namely] the overcharging of US$4m per month, which means that in the last three months [Akly] and his accomplices have stolen US$12m from the country”. Local media has reported in recent days that YPFB has been overpaying Trafigura for imports of fuel.

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