Evo Morales's ex-girlfriend arrested in corruption probe
The ex-girlfriend of Bolivian President Evo Morales, a top manager for the local office of a Chinese engineering group, was arrested Friday in an influence-peddling probe, the interior ministry said.
"Citizen Gabriela Zapata Montano was detained this morning and is being held" in the jail cells of the police Anti-Crime Task Force, the interior ministry said on Twitter.
The charges relating to her arrest were not made public.
The arrest comes weeks after local media revealed that the president's former girlfriend worked for CAMC, a Chinese group that recently won a bid for a major railroad expansion project.
Opposition politicians quickly accused Morales of influence peddling in connection with the $560 million government contract.
Morales denies the allegations, which are seen as having contributed to his defeat in a weekend vote on reforming Bolivia's constitution to let him seek a fourth term in office.
The 56-year-old president is single, and his elder sister performs the functions of Bolivia's first lady.
He recently admitted to fathering a child with Zapata during a two-year relationship that began in 2005 when she was 18. Morales said the child later died.