The Public Prosecutor's Office of Bolivia announced that it will issue an arrest warrant against former president Evo Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, to compel him to testify in the context of an investigation into alleged crimes of human trafficking and statutory rape, related to a minor with whom he allegedly had a child.
Sandra Gutiérrez, the departmental prosecutor of Tarija, declared that "what corresponds is that, to issue the arrest warrant since they (Morales and the other individuals being investigated) have been duly notified without any violation of their rights," reported the EFE news agency.
The complaint against the former president claims that the victim was part of a youth group created during his presidency, called 'Generación Evo'.
Although Morales was summoned to testify this Friday in Tarija, where the case is being investigated, his defense presented a memorandum arguing that a constitutional ruling establishes that the case should be handled in Cochabamba, where the former president resides.
Gutiérrez explained that, by not justifying their absence, Morales and two other investigated individuals face the same legal situation.
The prosecutor emphasized that the arrest warrant is necessary for the involved parties to appear and respond to their defense submissions. "No rights are being violated," she stated.
Social organizations aligned with Morales have warned that if the arrest warrant is executed, they will initiate a national roadblock in protest. The former president, who has distanced himself from the current government of Luis Arce, has described this situation as "political persecution" and has claimed that he has the support of more than 200 lawyers willing to defend him for free.
The complaint against him was filed on September 26, just days after he led a march in La Paz, raising political and social demands, and including his appointment as the "sole candidate" of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) for the 2025 general elections. The Puebla Group, a leftist political and academic organization in Latin America, has expressed its concern about what it considers a "lawfare campaign" against Morales.
However, since 2020, the former president has faced similar accusations. In August 2020, the Ministry of Justice of Bolivia investigated Morales after receiving an anonymous complaint about an alleged romantic relationship with a minor, with whom he reportedly had a child.
"This is a quite, quite delicate subject: it is about the existence of a girl. So we do not want to be reckless in bringing this to the public without having the necessary evidence to demonstrate that former president Morales had a relationship with a minor and even fathered a child," the entity stated at that time.
The Bolivian press also exposed that year another alleged relationship of the politician with a 19-year-old young woman, which is said to have begun when she was a minor.
In 2016, he was also linked to a relationship with Gabriela Zapata, former manager of the Chinese company CAMC, which the Bolivian government awarded million-dollar contracts to.
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled under: