La Paz/This Wednesday, the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office ordered the capture of former president Evo Morales (2006-2019), accused of terrorism, armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State and other crimes for his involvement in the protests and road blockades registered between May and June to demand the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.
The order, issued by prosecutor Brayan Melgar and confirmed to EFE by a person close to the former president, also attributes to Morales the alleged crimes of attacking the security of means of transportation, criminal association, public instigation to commit a crime and attacking the security of public services.
For seven weeks, between May and June, peasants from La Paz and the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) promoted road blockades, mainly in western and central Bolivia, with the support of groups related to Morales, to demand the resignation of President Paz as the “only demand.”
The blockades caused shortages of food, fuel and medicinal oxygen in several cities, left at least 16 dead, 13 of them due to lack of timely medical attention due to road closures, and caused economic losses of more than $3 billion.
Former President Morales denies having promoted Paz’s resignation and maintains that the mobilizations sought to get the Government to respond to the demands of the mobilized sectors.
The complaint was presented at the beginning of July by the civic leaders of Santa Cruz, the most populated region and the economic engine of Bolivia, which was later joined by the Minister of Government (Interior), Marco Antonio Oviedo.
The legal action also includes the top leader of the COB, Marco Argollo, and the main leader of the peasants of La Paz, Vicente Salazar, who remains in preventive detention since July 6 for another investigation related to these same events.
Former President Morales denies having promoted Paz’s resignation and maintains that the mobilizations sought to get the Government to respond to the demands of the mobilized sectors. However, on May 24 he wrote on the social network
The former president is accused of his alleged relationship with a minor with whom he had a daughter while he was president in 2016.
After reaching agreements with sectors such as the COB, Paz decreed a state of emergency on June 20 to lift the blockades, after which the Police and the Army were deployed on the roads to remove obstacles and restore circulation.
Since October 2024, Morales has remained in the Tropics of Cochabamba (center), his political and union stronghold, guarded by hundreds of his followers to prevent an arrest warrant against him from being carried out due to an investigation into aggravated human trafficking.
In that case, the former president is accused of his alleged relationship with a minor with whom he had a daughter while he was president in 2016.
In May, a court in the southern region of Tarija declared Morales in absentia and issued a new arrest warrant because he did not appear at the start of the trial in this case. The Police maintain that they are waiting for the right moment to execute that order.
