Evo Morales defiant after new Bolivia arrest warrant

Bolivia’s former president is being investigated ‘for armed uprising’ against the state, among other things.A court in Bolivia has issued an arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales.The Santa Cruz district prosecutor’s office said Morales is being investigated for “armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the state, terrorism and attacks on the safety of means of transport”.Morales backed protests in June by farmers and truckers against an economic crisis, rising living costs and conservative President Rodrigo Paz’s austerity plans.“They will not intimidate us,” he responded to the charges in a post on X.Morales said the government was going after him “to conceal the true drama Bolivia is experiencing: a deep economic and social crisis…a model that has abandoned the people and protects corruption”.Demonstrators stand amid tear gas as they protest against President Rodrigo Paz’s government amid an ongoing economic and fuel crisis in El Alto, Bolivia, May 16, 2026 [Claudia Morales/Reuters]Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, rose from poverty to serve three terms as president, one of Latin America’s longest-serving leaders.He was in office from 2006 until his fraught 2019 ouster, when he was forced to resign after elections tainted by claims of fraud.Initially refusing to leave power, he eventually had to go, casting a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction mixed with accusations of political heavy-handedness.He went into exile in Mexico and later, Argentina, returning a year later after his political ally Luis Arce won the presidency.