Arrest of Evo Morales declared "priority task" by Bolivian government
The Bolivian government contradicted the police chief and reaffirmed that detaining Evo Morales is a priority. The former president has resisted an arrest warrant since the end of 2024.
Bolivian government contradicts police commander and demands Morales's arrest
The Bolivian government declared on Monday the arrest of former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) as a "priority task", publicly disavowing the national police commander, according to readingeagle.com. The police chief had stated hours earlier that the detention of the 66-year-old indigenous leader was not an institutional priority.
"The apprehension of Mr Evo Morales constitutes a priority task for the government… no one stands above the law," the Ministry of Government stated in an official communiqué.
General Mirko Sokol, police commander, had downplayed the urgency of the case in a television interview, claiming the institution is handling "18,000 pending arrest warrants". His statements generated criticism from both the ruling party and the opposition.
President Rodrigo Paz had promised last week that Morales "will face justice because he must answer for it".
Morales has remained entrenched in his coca-growing stronghold of Chapare, in the centre of the country, since a court issued an arrest warrant at the end of 2024. He was declared in rebellion after failing to appear in May for the opening of an oral trial on alleged aggravated human trafficking involving a minor during his term. Last week he accumulated a second arrest warrant, this time related to 53 days of protests that paralysed Bolivia between May and June.
Authorities have described his detention as a high-risk operation: Morales is constantly surrounded by supporters who have declared they are willing to defend him with their lives.
General Sokol additionally faces his own controversies. In recent days an audio recording was leaked in which he is supposedly heard saying that a group of colonels would have pooled money to buy his position and expel him from the institution.
From the coca-growers' radio station, Morales maintains a constant public presence. Days ago he circulated a video in which he appears conversing with police officers while crossing a checkpoint in Chapare. On Sunday he stated he would have been "a prosperous businessman" had he not entered politics, and described his former ministers as "opportunists" for not contacting him. He also reiterated that he does not intend to flee and dismissed the accusations against him as fabricated.
Source: Google News BO — Crime