The Departmental Prosecutor's Office of Santa Cruz issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday against former president Evo Morales for his alleged responsibility in the roadblocks that paralyzed Bolivia for more than seven weeks between May and June 2026, according to reported by the EFE agency.
The subject prosecutor Brayan Alfredo Melgar Ledezma signed the order, which accuses Morales of terrorism, armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State, attack on the security of transportation, criminal association, public incitement to commit crimes, and assault against the security of public services.
The complaint was filed in early July by the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, represented by its president Stello Cochamanidis Garces, and was subsequently supported by the Ministry of Government, led by Marco Antonio Oviedo Huerta.
The order also extends to the highest leader of the Bolivian Workers' Central (COB), Marco Argollo, and to the leader of the farmers in La Paz, Vicente Salazar, who has been in preventive detention since July 6 due to another investigation related to the same events.
The blockades, driven by farmers and groups aligned with Morales demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz as the "sole demand," reached a total of 84 active points across seven of the nine departments in the country.
The consequences were devastating: at least 16 people died —13 of them due to not receiving timely medical attention as the routes were blocked— and economic losses that exceeded 3 billion dollars.
Morales denies having promoted Paz's resignation and maintains that the mobilizations aimed to make the government respond to the demands of the mobilized sectors. However, on May 24, he posted on social media platform X that the president had only "two paths": to "militarize" the country or to call elections within the next 90 days.
After reaching agreements with various sectors, President Paz declared a state of emergency on June 20 for 90 days, which was approved the following day by the Legislative Assembly. This allowed the deployment of police and the army to clear the roads. By June 23, all blockades had been lifted.
This new order adds to another already in effect since October 2024, issued by the Tarija Prosecutor's Office for aggravated human trafficking, linked to an alleged relationship with a minor of 15 years in 2015, with whom he is said to have had a daughter the following year.
In May 2026, failing to appear at the start of the trial in Tarija, a court declared Morales in contempt and issued a new immediate arrest warrant.
Morales has been in the Tropic of Cochabamba since October 2024, his political and union stronghold, guarded by hundreds of supporters who have set up a permanent vigil to prevent the execution of court orders. The police, for their part, claim that they "are waiting for the right moment" to carry them out.
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