This Monday, the Bolivian Justice opened an ex officio investigation against a legislator of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) who issued threats against those who try to apprehend Evo Morales.
At a party meeting in the coca-growing region of the country, Deputy Gualberto Arispe asked to prioritize Morales’ safety in the face of rumors of an imminent arrest and warned that those who try to stop him must be determined “to die.”
“It has been said that whoever wants to come to apprehend Evo (Morales) should come, but determined to die. If you are not determined to die, it is better that you do not come because we are determined to defend our brother Evo Morales,” said the legislator.
Last week, Morales was notified by the Prosecutor’s Office through an edict and The hearing on precautionary measures was set for January 14 at 9:30 a.m. (local time) in the Court of Criminal Investigation, Anti-Corruption and Against Violence against Women in the city of Tarija (south) for the case of human trafficking and statutory rape. At the hearing, the judge could determine whether Morales will defend himself in freedom or under preventive detention.
The coca grower leader is investigated for the alleged pregnancy of a teenager when he was president of the country. According to documentation from the Prosecutor’s Office, the victim – who was then 15 years old and was part of the party’s youth movements – gave birth to a girl in 2016, who was registered in the town of Yacuiba, bordering Argentina, as the daughter of the then president.
Morales had already been summoned to testify on October 10 at the Tarija Prosecutor’s Office but he didn’t show up. The prosecutor assigned to the case, Sandra Gutiérrez, reported that on the 16th of that month an arrest warrant was issued that until now had not been delivered to the Police and that is the one that has in mind the coca growers close to the former president.
Although two of Morales’ lawyers indicated to Infobae that the arrest warrant of October 16 was annulled by a freedom action filed in a courtroom in Santa Cruz, Sectors related to the former president organized to create surveillance committees and protect his security.
The senator and coca leader Leonardo Loza stated that “they are not going to allow” the arrest of Morales and that they will defend his life, freedom and physical integrity. “We will provide security to our brother 24 hours a day, every day“Loza said.
Local media estimate that more than 1,500 people are guarding him at the union headquarters of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba and the Lauca Ñ region, his political and union stronghold where Morales has been entrenched since the end of September. On Sunday he moved to the town of Chimoré, 8 kilometers away, with a delegation of at least 12 vehicles and 40 motorcycles, to participate in the match.
The Government has stated that there are security rings made up of local community members that would make it difficult to capture Morales but that, if the arrest warrant is received, they will apply mechanisms for its execution. The vMinister of the Interior Regime and former Police Commander, Jhonny Aguilera He indicated in an interview with Piedra, papel y ink that there are “strategic issues linked to the operation that will be developed by our Police, obviously there is planning, there are ways and procedures for its execution”.
The supposedly imminent arrest of Morales is at the forefront of the information agenda in the Andean country, however it is striking that In more than two months the arrest warrant has not reached the hands of the Police. Those close to the former president say that this was annulled by a freedom action but the Prosecutor’s Office does not confirm it.
While the investigation develops, the case raises tension in Bolivia. What happens in the following weeks with the coca leader will be decisive for the ordering of the political scenario ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for August 2025.
