Bolivia's presidential medal stolen after being left in car

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Bolivia’s presidential medal and sash were stolen this week after the man supposed to deliver them to President Evo Morales left them in his car while he visited a brothel, local media reported on Wednesday.

The custodian had been meant to bring the gold-and-emerald presidential medal, which dates back to the founding of the republic in 1825, to Morales to wear during a speech in the central city of Cochabamba.

But his flight late Tuesday was delayed and the officer instead decided to visit various brothels, local media said, quoting a police report.

Bolivian President Evo Morales (C-R) waves during a parade commemorating the 193rd anniversary of the creation of the Bolivian Armed Forces in Cochabamba, Bolivia, August 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I entered a number of these different establishments (brothels) but then returned to where I left my motor car," the report quoted the custodian as having told police.

"When I got there, my backpack, which held the emblems of the nation, had been taken."

Morales – who last wore the emblems on Aug. 6 during celebrations marking Bolivia's 193rd anniversary – appeared at the Cochabamba military parade Wednesday with neither medal nor sash.

He made no reference to their absence or to the theft, which was first reported by the ministry of defense, which confirmed only that the custodian had been detained as part of an ongoing investigation.

"This is a hard blow for the republic, for the state," said former president Carlos Mesa, who compared the heist to "the theft of the crown of Queen Elizabeth II of England."

The medal was a gift from the Congress of the recently formed Bolivian republic to its founder in 1825 and was first used in 1826 as the presidential medal by Antonio Jose de Sucre.

The gold medal, encrusted with emeralds, is normally kept in a secure vault at the Central Bank but is delivered to the president for ceremonial occasions.

The defense ministry said the "intelligence service and all state institutions have been placed at the disposal of investigators to find those responsible for this theft as quickly as possible."

(Top picture: Bolivia's presidential medal is seen in a picture taken in La Paz, Bolivia, March 23, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP