Bolivia Moves to Arrest Evo Morales as Trial Looms

The Government’s Warning

Bolivia’s Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo declared Monday that the government is ready to apprehend former president Evo Morales. “We already have the intention to go and arrest Mr. Morales,” Oviedo told the Bolivian daily La Razón, adding that the former leader could resolve matters by appearing in court. “What is he afraid of?”

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The announcement coincided with a critical legal step. The Tarija prosecutor’s office confirmed it has completed its investigation and filed a formal indictment. Chief prosecutor José Ernesto Mogro said the charge sheet and evidence have been presented, and the judiciary must now schedule the oral trial.

The Charges

The case centers on allegations that Morales, while president, began a relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015 and fathered a child with her the following year. Prosecutors allege the minor was part of “Generación Evo,” a political youth group, and that her parents enrolled her in Morales’ entourage in exchange for political favors. The girl’s mother faces co-charges. If convicted, Morales could face 10 to 15 years in prison.

Multiple arrest warrants have been issued since September 2024, but none has been executed. Morales has refused to appear at hearings — a Tarija judge ordered his arrest in January 2025 after he skipped pretrial detention hearings twice. His assets and bank accounts have been frozen, and a national travel restriction is in effect.

Hiding in the Chapare

Morales has spent over a year sheltered in the Chapare, a coca-growing region where his base among growers’ unions has turned the area into a no-go zone for law enforcement. Union leaders have pledged to defend him “with our lives.” During a 23-day road blockade in late 2024, supporters cut off the Cochabamba region, causing nationwide food and fuel shortages.

After vanishing from public view for seven weeks — prompting speculation he had fled Bolivia following the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January — Morales resurfaced on February 20 at a rally in Chimoré, arriving by tractor to address supporters. He dismissed flight rumors and insisted he remains in the country.

Political Collapse, Legal Reckoning

Morales calls the prosecution political persecution. “I am only protected by the people because — not content with banning me — the enemies of Indigenous people want to kill me,” he said recently. But the political landscape has shifted dramatically. His Movement Toward Socialism party collapsed in the October 2025 election, reduced to single-digit support. Conservative President Rodrigo Paz’s government has moved to restore state authority in the Chapare and reestablish anti-drug cooperation with Washington. Former president Luis Arce, once Morales’ closest ally, was arrested in December on corruption charges. Bolivia’s most dominant political figure of the 21st century now faces the real possibility that the state has finally gathered the will to bring him to trial.

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