They move on motorcycles and wear white polo shirts, they break into lodging centers to detect “infiltrated police”, this is Evo Morales’ “union protection” in the coca-growing region of the tropics of Cochabamba. The former Bolivian president is accused of the crime of trafficking and smuggling of minors; his followers want to prevent an arrest warrant from being executed.
This week, Evo Morales’ followers They searched more than a dozen accommodations and hotels in the coca-growing region of the department of Cochabamba. According to them, there were police and military infiltrators, with the intention of arresting the former president.
“We have received information and reports that there were infiltrated people (…) we do not guarantee the safety of those people,” said Maicol Rojas, the general secretary of the Federation of Chimoré Intercultural Communities.
Evo Morales is investigated in Bolivia for allegedly having a relationship and impregnating a teenager 17 years old, in 2016, when he was still president. On October 10, 2024, he was summoned by the court to testify, however, he did not appear and declared that he was not “silly” to turn himself in.
Since then, he has remained entrenched in the coca-growing region of Cochabamba, he himself declared that he was under the protection of his followers. The deputy, also close to Evo Morales, declared that those who want to go and arrest their leader must be prepared to “die.”
Regarding the searches in lodging centers, the president of the Hotel Chamber of Cochabamba, Tito Naviaannounced that they will initiate proceedings against the leaders, followers of Evo Morales, for breaking into private property.
Along the same lines, the Vice Minister of the Interior Regime, Jhonny Aguilera, expressed that these interventions, carried out by the so-called “union protection”, are outside the law. The authority also warned that the police “does not need guarantees” and is developing plans and strategies to achieve the arrest of Evo Morales.
On December 16, Evo Morales was formally accused by the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office for the crime of aggravated human trafficking. Prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez indicated that they will request preventive detention for the former president and if the accused does not appear, he will be declared in absentia and a new arrest warrant will be issued. The Fifth Criminal Investigation Court set the hearing date for January 14.
A migration alert was also activated against Evo Morales, to prevent him from leaving his country. The former president repeatedly declared and accused the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, of promoting the case against him to prevent him from being a candidate in the next presidential elections.
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