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Juan Pereda Asbun only served as President of Bolivia for four months back in 1978, but is notable for being elected through fraud, pissing a lot of people off, feeling betrayed by everyone he pissed off, and kicking off an era of instability in the Bolivian government. History has not heard much from him since, until now. Allegedly the 79-year-old likes to get high on coke and flash his old junk at young girls. Now he’s being forced into rehab by Bolivian courts. Gotta love the craziness of corrupt Latin American politicians, even when they’re washed up.
There’s some confusion on the whole story obviously. The AP reports that “he was harassing and bothering minors” while under the influence of a drug, and sent to marijuana rehab.
However a Portuguese report from the AFP says that Pereda’s drug of choice was actually cocaine, and that he flashed a young girl. Or as Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos, roughly translated, put it:
Pereda’s arrest came after a father stopped Pereda from re-entering his car after exposing his genitals to a young girl.
After being handed over to police, officers found Pereda under the influence of drugs and found that he possessed two packs of cigarettes filled with cocaine, which are known in the world of consumers as “fags.”
What does seem clear is that instead of jail, Pereda will be forced into a rehab center. Oh, the sad, sad life of an old, forgotten would-be South American dictator.
