Bolivia's YPFB manager detained over destabilized gasoline case

Carlos Cuéllar Pinto, the manager of Products Derivatives and Industrialization at state oil firm YPFB, was placed in preventive detention for six months at Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz. The measure was ordered after a virtual hearing by the Ministry of Public, where prosecutors cited alleged breaches of duty and "conduct anti‑economic" linked to the sale of destabilized gasoline.

He is scheduled to appear before a judge on Friday to determine whether he will remain detained. Prosecutors have also searched YPFB offices and seized documents to reconstruct how the defective fuel entered the market. The investigation, still in its early stages, could extend to other officials within the company and has raised concerns about fuel quality controls and management within Bolivia’s key energy sector.