Bolivia: Peru-based Grupo Gloria reportedly paid former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero €200,000 for lobbying the government in Bolivia on its behalf for compensation relating to the nationalisation of Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA). The Demócrata online newspaper cites a report it has seen issued by the Central Unit for Economic and Fiscal Crime (EDEF) in Spain. Three payments totalling €200,000 were made in 2024 and 2025 to the former politician. The UDEF document alleges that the lobbying used “commercial contracts that it considers fictitious to justify payments.” In response the Bolivian Senate has approved the creation of a special investigative commission to explore the issue.
The investigators believe that the transfers were made to Zapatero in connection to a legal battle between Grupo Gloria’s cement subsidiary Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (SOBOCE) and the Bolivian state-run company FANCESA. SOBOCE previously owned a minority stake in FANCESA until its nationalising in 2010. It has sought compensation since then. SOBOCE was later acquired by Grupo Gloria in 2014. However, in late June 2026 the Supreme Court of Bolivia dismissed an appeal by SOBOCE and upheld a judgement requiring it to pay around €94m to FANCESA following an unfair competition case.
