The Bolivian Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified the substitution of Mirian Rosell Terrazas to occupy the position of magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), following the departure of the former president of that instance, Romer Saucedo. Gustavo Ávila, president of the electoral body, reported that, based on documentation from the 2024 judicial elections, Rosell is qualified to assume the full position after Saucedo left the country, having declared himself in exile last week due to alleged political pressure. The vocal explained that Rosell requested a certification of the results of the judicial electoral process in Santa Cruz, and after reviewing the records, confirmed that the magistrate obtained around 717,000 votes and was the most voted substitute in the department, a condition that supports her request. "We have delivered that certification and have proceeded to legalize a copy of her ID. We understand that under the rights afforded to this citizen, the process is beginning to enable her to be habilitated as a full magistrate," Ávila informed local media. However, her assumption of the position as full magistrate is subject to the institutional decisions adopted regarding Saucedo. The judicial elections were held on December 15, 2024, in Bolivia. In the image, an electoral delegate shows an unmarked ballot at a polling station. (Photo AP/Juan Karita) This Wednesday marks the expiration of the vacancy period granted by the full chamber of the TSJ to its former president before it is considered abandonment of duties. In this regard, an extraordinary session is scheduled for this Thursday to elect the new president of the highest judicial instance. Romer Saucedo is a 38-year-old lawyer from Santa Cruz who joined the TSJ after winning the 2024 judicial elections. Since his assumption of office in January 2025, the magistrate maintained a media profile and generated questions due to some actions, such as the release of former president Jeanine Añez and former civic leader Luis Fernando Camacho, following the defeat of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) in the presidential elections. Later, during the Paz presidency, he exerted pressure against the Executive branch over the alleged lack of attention to legal and economic demands, and threatened to carry out an indefinite judicial strike if the Executive did not take action. In mid-October, he presented an unprecedented early resignation from the Presidency of the TSJ, which would have had to take effect starting in January 2027. Romer Saucedo, then president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Bolivia alongside the organization's dean, Rosmery Ruiz. Finally, on November 4, he announced via social networks that he was leaving the country with his family due to fear of judicial pressure from the government of Rodrigo Paz and declared himself in exile. "Political power once again turned justice into a revolving door where the rule is preventive detention for those who do not align with them, and they do not hesitate to hire hitmen and silence people with death," he stated in his message. The following day, an arrest warrant was disseminated against Saucedo for the crimes of trafficking controlled substances and criminal organization, a case for which raids have been conducted in his office in recent days and one of his sisters has been arrested. The government denounced that Saucedo operated in complicity with the former State Prosecutor General, Roger Mariaca, who is being investigated for alleged favoritism toward drug trafficking, to provide institutional and judicial protection to criminal networks. Since his departure from the country, the dean of the TSJ, Rosmery Ruiz, has assumed the interim presidency of the Supreme Court. "The six days granted by the Residency Law for the possibility of unjustified absence by any member of the Judicial Body are passing. Wednesday marks the deadline, and on Thursday we are convening the Full Chamber," Ruiz stated regarding the election of the new president of the organization.