Bolivian Interim Government Issues Arrest Order Against ex-President Evo Morales

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The interim government of Bolivia issued, on Wednesday, December 18th, an arrest warrant against former president Evo Morales, for “rebellion, terrorism, and financing terrorism”. Morales is a refugee in Argentina after resigning from office in November.

The announcement was made by Bolivia’s interior minister, Arturo Murillo, who in November filed a complaint against the former president for terrorism.

At the time, Murillo disclosed audios in which Morales was allegedly instructing his supporters to block the country’s roads, preventing the distribution of food and fuel.

The order, signed by La Paz prosecutors Jhimmy Almanza and Richard Villaca, instructs prosecutors, police, and/or public officials to “seize and take Mr. Juan Evo Morales Ayma to the Prosecutor’s Office”.

“It doesn’t scare me,” Evo Morales reacted.

“For 14 years of our revolution, the ‘best gift’ I have received from the de facto government is an order of apprehension, unfair, illegal and unconstitutional. It doesn’t scare me. As long as I am alive, I will continue more vigorously in the political and ideological struggle for a free and sovereign Bolivia,” he said.

Resignation

In the weeks following Evo Morales’ resignation, protests spread across the country and some 30 people died. Morales’ replacement in the presidency, Jeanine Añez, instituted by means of a decree the granting of immunity to security forces that committed abuses against demonstrators to “pacify the country “. The decree was overturned in late November.

Morales, on the other hand, denounced that his resignation was forced by coup and “fascist” movements and that a “dictatorship” was being implemented in Bolivia.

The crisis began after Morales’ unconstitutional attempt to win a fourth consecutive term in the elections in early November. The counting of the votes was lengthy and fraught with suspicion and controversy.

He lost the support of the military, which recommended his resignation even after Morales annulled the election’s results and called new elections at the behest of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Morales is currently living in Argentina after spending a few weeks in Mexico. He lives in a city that borders Bolivia and hopes to lead his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), in its campaign during elections scheduled for the first half of 2020.

Source: Veja