Ex-Bolivian president arrested for exhibitionism, drug possession

Gustavo Ondarza

La Paz (dpa) – Former Bolivian president Juan Pereda Asbun was arrested for flashing a group of minors in a suburb of the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and police later found him to be in the possession of drugs.

Public prosecutor Francisca Rivero, of the Special Victims Unit, said Wednesday that Pereda Asbun was arrested a day earlier after parents of the minors filed a complaint. He had allegedly asked the minors to get into his car, which they declined to do, and then exposed himself.

He tested positive for narcotics after his arrest. When police searched his vehicle they said they found two packets of cigarettes mixed with cocaine.

Pereda Asbun became president after a coup in 1978. He was in power for a mere three months before being toppled. Since then, he has largely stayed away from public life.