Bolivia accuses Evo Morales of leading Cochabamba Tropics drug cartel
The Government Minister identified Morales as head of all drug production from the Cochabamba Tropics. The former president has also accumulated arrest warrants for terrorism and human trafficking.
Bolivian Government charges Evo Morales as head of drug cartel
The Government of Bolivia accused former president Evo Morales on Wednesday of heading a drug trafficking cartel operating from the Cochabamba Tropics, his main political and union stronghold, according to efe.com. The authorities maintain that that organisation financed the roadblocks registered between May and June of this year.
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo stated in an interview with local radio station Erbol that Morales—who governed the country between 2006 and 2019—controls "all the production" of drugs coming out of the Cochabamba Tropics, a zone that also ranks among the country's main coca leaf-producing regions.
"Who ordered the roadblocks to be set up? Who was sending the money from the Tropics? In the Tropics not a thing moves if Evo Morales doesn't order it," Oviedo declared.
The minister added that during police operations carried out at the road cuts it was established that "more than eight million bolivianos were leaving the Tropics". He also identified the peasant federation Tupac Katari of La Paz as another financier of the protests, which for 53 days demanded the resignation of president Rodrigo Paz.
Sixteen dead and a double arrest warrant
Between May and June, peasants, the Bolivian Workers' Centre (COB) and sectors allied to Morales carried out street protests and roadblocks to pressure Paz to resign, arguing that he did not resolve the economic crisis Bolivia has been facing for several years. The conflict left sixteen people dead, most due to lack of medical care because of the road cuts.
During the conflict, Morales publicly stated that president Paz had "two options": to "militarise" the country or call for elections within ninety days "to avoid conflicts with dead and wounded".
The Public Prosecutor's Office has an open criminal investigation against the former president for armed uprising and terrorism, with an arrest warrant in place in that context. In addition to this is a previous detention order for aggravated human trafficking: he is accused of having maintained a relationship with a minor during his presidency and of having had a child with her in 2016.
Because of the latter charge, Morales has not left the Cochabamba Tropics since October 2024. His supporters maintain a permanent vigil in the area to prevent his arrest.
Source: Google News BO — Crime