Self-proclaimed coup president Jeanine Añez (L) whispers something to Roxana Lizárraga.

Washington, June 7 (RHC)-- The former Minister of Communication during the de facto government of Bolivia, Roxana Lizárraga, reported that she has initiated procedures for her political asylum in the United States, the country to which she fled after the apprehension of former coup president Jeanine Áñez.

She told reporters: "I don't yet have political asylum, but the procedures are already in place.  It will happen in time and I'm waiting for a response from the U.S. government.  

Lizárraga has been summoned by the Bolivian Public Ministry, along with other former ministers, to testify within the framework of the investigations being carried out for the overpriced purchase of tear gas.

She said that previously she had "requested refuge to Peru," but after this request became known, a series of speculations arose by the media and the Peruvian Government told her that "the best thing to do is to go to another country."

He lashed out against former Government Minister Arturo Murillo, recently arrested in the United States for his involvement in a case of money laundering in the purchase of anti-riot equipment, and for which he is also wanted in Bolivia.

"Murillo boasted of having a lot of political experience and I had several run-ins with him, as he was reluctant to comply with the rules, he wanted to break the rules and change many things by decree," she said.

Although Lizárraga has pointed out that she was not aware that Murillo had any kind of involvement in the corruption case for which he was arrested a couple of weeks ago in Florida, she has shown her willingness to testify, after being summoned as a witness by the Bolivian Prosecutor's Office to do so.

Murillo and her former chief of staff Sergio Rodrigo Méndez, also detained in the U.S., are accused of receiving bribes from a U.S. company and of conspiring to launder money that may have come from the "overpricing" paid by the Bolivian state to acquire a batch of tear gas and non-lethal ammunition from the Brazilian company Condor.