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The Bolivian Prosecutor's Office ordered on Wednesday the arrest 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 alleged involvement in the protests and road blockades recorded 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 attack against the security of transport means, criminal association, public instigation to commit a crime, and attack against the security of public services.
For seven weeks, between May and June, farmers from La Paz and the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) promoted road blockades, mainly in western and central Bolivia, with the support of groups aligned with Morales, to demand the resignation of President Paz as the "only demand."
The blockades caused shortages of food, fuel, and medical oxygen in several cities, left at least 16 dead, 13 of them due to the lack of timely medical attention because of the road closures, and caused economic losses exceeding 3 billion dollars.
The complaint was filed at the beginning of July by civic leaders from Santa Cruz, the most populous region and the economic engine of Bolivia, to which the Minister of Government (Interior), Marco Antonio Oviedo, later joined.
The legal action also includes the top leader of the COB, Marco Argollo, and the main leader of the farmers of La Paz, Vicente Salazar, who has been in preventive detention since July 6 due to another investigation related to these same events.
Former President Morales denies having promoted Paz's resignation and maintains that the mobilizations sought to have the Government respond to the demands of the mobilized sectors. However, on May 24, he wrote on the social network X that the president had only "two paths" regarding the conflicts: "militarize" the country or call for elections in the next 90 days.
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.
Morales has remained since October 2024 in the Trópico de Cochabamba (center), his political and union stronghold, guarded by hundreds of his followers to prevent the execution of an arrest warrant against him for an investigation into aggravated human trafficking.
In that case, the former president is accused of his alleged relationship with a minor with whom he supposedly had a daughter while he was president in 2016.
In May, a court in the southern region of Tarija declared Morales in contempt and issued a new arrest warrant because he did not appear at the beginning of the trial for this case. The Police maintain that they are waiting for the right moment to execute that order.
[Publicidad]