Bolivia’s attorney general, Juan Lanchipa, said Monday that summoned former president and ruling party leader Evo Morales to testify in an alleged case of “trafficking of minors” and “rape”which is to be carried out on Thursday in the Tarija region.
“The summons of the three people accused in this case, including Mr. Evo Morales, and the victim’s parents, has been set for Thursday, October 10 at the Tarija County Prosecutor’s Office,” Lanchipa said in statements to local media. .
Morales was also reported by Justice Minister César Siles as being involved in an investigation by the possible “rape” of a minor, with whom he would have had a child and to create a network of young people between 14 and 15 years old to have at their disposal during his presidency which he called “Generation Evo”. The complaint referenced by Siles also states that the alleged victim’s parents “took advantage” of her by giving her to the former president in exchange for favors.
Last Wednesday, the Departmental Prosecutor of Tarija Sandra Gutiérrez reported that she had been dismissed from her position by the Attorney General for wanting to execute an arrest warrant against Evo Morales and revealed the case of “human trafficking” it concerns him But this arrest warrant against the former president was stopped by a judge in Santa Cruz. However, a judge ordered the reinstatement of Gutiérrez in his post and Lanchipa confirmed today that the prosecutor Gutiérrez found his position.
Morales says these accusations are part of “political persecution” against him to prevent him from running as a candidate. from the presidential election to the 2025 elections. “Lawfare is the new Condor Plan, they no longer kill with bullets, now they promote moral murders through convictions against popular leaders. They simultaneously launched four legal proceedings, all with forced actions to obtain our arrest”, Morales wrote this Monday on the social network
The Puebla Group, a political and academic forum made up of representatives of the Latin American political left, has expressed concern about the so-called “legalization campaign” due to the trial opened against the former Bolivian president. “Despite all the mediation efforts carried out by a group of Puebla Group colleagues between former President Evo Morales and President Luis Arce, their legitimate disputes now appear to be transferred to the judicial courts,” Puebla Group said in a statement. “Just like Lula and Cristina (Fernández de Kirchner), they will seek to prohibit our participation in the next electoral processes to pave the way for right-wing governments. Just like with his brother Rafael Correa, this action comes from a betrayal,” he said. Morales said. said.
The investigation and accusations come amid a long battle between Morales and President Luis Arce for control of the ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS) and the Bolivian Executive. The human trafficking complaint was filed on September 26, three days after Morales, after a 187-kilometer march through the Bolivian highlands, issued an ultimatum to Arce, saying that “if he wants to continue to govern”, he must dismiss his ministers. was described by the Government as an attempted “coup d’état”.
