A judge in the Bolivian department (state) of Tarija issued an arrest warrant on Jan. 18 for former President Evo Morales, declaring him to be in “rebellion” for having twice failed to appear at a hearing to face charges of statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl in 2015 when he was President. Morales claimed he was never advised of the hearing and that he was too seriously ill to attend in any case. There are charges and countercharges in this case which have been levied by both Morales and the government of President Luis Arce against each other for well over a year, in which Morales claims that Arce is persecuting him to prevent him from running in this year’s presidential elections. In December 2023, Bolivia’s Plurinational Constitutional Court ruled against indefinite reelection which made Morales ineligible to run for President this year. He served two six-year presidential terms between 2006-2018.
The details to one side, this situation is fraught with the potential for worsening polarization and destabilization of this new BRICS partner nation at a time of significant economic crisis, driven by City of London and Wall Street financial interests. Moreover, opposition figures linked to the international Project Democracy apparatus, who were directly involved in the State Department’s 2019 coup against Morales, are activated to oppose Arce’s reelection bid and create maximum chaos in this election year.
