Bolivia: Ex-President's Imminent Arrest Triggers Protests

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Facts

  • Supporters of former Bolivian Pres. Evo Morales blocked two main roads and clashed with police on Monday, as they took to the streets to protest his looming arrest in connection with statutory rape and human trafficking charges.[1][2][3]
  • Demonstrators said that the blockades would continue indefinitely, and spread from the central department of Cochabamba — Morales' current location — to the entire country in the coming days.[4]
  • Protests have successfully blocked routes connecting Cochabamba with the cities of Santa Cruz and Sucre, with police suppressing a blockade in a road leading to La Paz. At least 12 people have been arrested.[1][4]
  • This comes as authorities issued an 'immigration alert' against Morales, after the first Indigenous president of Bolivia ignored a judicial summons to appear in court on Thursday.[4][5]
  • Morales has been charged with 'aggravated rape with human trafficking' for allegedly fathering a child with an unnamed minor, whose parents claim to have agreed to the relationship in return for 'political favors,' while Morales was in office in 2016.[6][7]
  • Previously shelved for lack of evidence, the case was reportedly reopened amid a dispute between Morales and the incumbent president, his ally-turned-foe Luis Arce. Both reportedly desire to run for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party in next year's presidential elections.[6][7]

Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]teleSURenglish, [3]Latinnews, [4]France 24, [5]EL PAÍS English, [6]The Telegraph and [7]Daily Mail.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Latintimes. Arce has weaponized the judicial system against Morales and the popular movement he was expected to represent in a desperate move to stay in office amid an acute economic crisis. Let alone the fact that any case such as this should be handled in Cochabamba, these allegations against Morales are baseless.
  • Narrative B, as provided by ELMUNDOAMERICA. Morales and his supporters are crying foul and playing the victim over an appropriate response to the fact that someone who was summoned to testify, failed to appear before the prosecution. This is clearly not personal against Morales, as it is not only about him but the alleged victim and her parents.

Predictions