The Bolivian prosecutor’s office has issued an arrest warrant for former Bolivian president Evo Morales, 64 years old. He faces charges of human trafficking for allegedly engaging in sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl.
On Tuesday, The Guardian reported that Bolivian prosecutors had been investigating Morales for the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl in 2015 and had issued an arrest warrant in October.
Prosecutor Sandra Gutierrez explained that the warrant has not yet been executed due to safety concerns for law enforcement as Cochabamba, the region where Morales resides, is under the protection of coca growers, who cultivate the raw material for cocaine. The warrant remains valid for six months.
According to prosecutors, the victim’s parents reportedly sent their 15-year-old daughter to Morales’ youth organization in 2015, hoping to climb the political ladder. A year later, the victim gave birth to a child, with Morales identified as the father.
Morales, who had previously fled abroad due to election fraud controversies, has returned to Bolivia to revive his political career. He claims that the current investigation is a politically motivated attack by the government. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Morales accused current President Luis Arce of waging a “lawfare” against him to hand him over to the United States as a trophy.
A former coca farmer and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Morales took office in 2005 and won consecutive elections in 2009 and 2014. However, he left the country amid fraud allegations during the 2019 election when he attempted to seek a fourth term.
Morales returned to Bolivia with the support of President Arce, who belongs to the same party and won the 2020 election. However, their relationship deteriorated as Morales sought re-election. Despite the Bolivian Constitutional Court’s ruling on term limits preventing him from running in elections, Morales has expressed a strong desire to run in next year’s election. He continues to rally his supporters through anti-government marches.
