Bolivia's public prosecutor investigates Evo Morales for murder and torture in 2009 case
Bolivia's public prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation against former president Evo Morales for the offences of murder and torture linked to the "Hotel Las Américas" operation in Santa Cruz.
Morales and García Linera face charges over deaths at Santa Cruz hotel in 2009
Bolivia's public prosecutor's office announced on Monday the opening of a preliminary investigation against former president Evo Morales and his former vice-president Álvaro García Linera for the alleged offences of murder, abuse, torture and unlawful detention, according to eluniversal.com.mx. The charges are related to a police operation carried out in 2009 that left three European citizens dead at a hotel in the city of Santa Cruz.
Seventeen years ago, a police unit burst into the Hotel Las Américas and shot dead Bolivian-Croatian Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Irish national Michael Dwyer and Hungarian-Romanian Arpad Magyarosi. Two survivors—Bolivian-Croatian Mario Tadic and Hungarian Elöd Tóásó—reported torture after being detained.
The Morales government maintained at the time that the group led by Rózsa Flores was seeking to promote a separatist movement financed by the right-wing economic elite of Santa Cruz.
New investigation, new prosecutor
Interim attorney general José Armando Urioste announced the opening of the investigation one week after being appointed by Congress, following the arrest of his predecessor, Roger Mariaca, who was accused of drug trafficking and money laundering. In a letter to the Supreme Court of Justice, Urioste notified "the beginning of the phase of gathering evidence" against both former officials.
The measure responds to a complaint filed by right-wing congressmen Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio. The latter confirmed to the AFP that the case corresponds to the so-called "Hotel Las Américas" incident and stated that the victims "were extrajudicially executed", ruling out that there had been a confrontation between law enforcement forces and those involved.
Statements and background
On the day of the operation, Morales was on an official visit to Venezuela and declared to the press that he had ordered the intervention to detain the foreigners, whom he described as "mercenaries". For congressman Antonio, that statement implies that the former president "had given precise instructions for this to be carried out".
Relatives and victims of the case brought the matter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which in 2021 concluded that the Bolivian state had committed human rights violations and referred the file to the Inter-American Court.
Neither Morales nor García Linera have commented on the new investigation.
Two previous arrest warrants
The former president, sheltered in his coca-growing stronghold of Chapare, in the centre of the country, already has two active arrest warrants: one linked to his role in the protests that paralysed Bolivia for 53 days this year, and another for an accusation of alleged trafficking of a minor with whom he allegedly had a daughter. Morales denies both charges.
Source: Google News BO — Crime