Evo Morales

Trade union and peasant organisations, including groups close to Morales, carried out several weeks of blockades against Rodrigo Paz's government, resulting in shortages, clashes and deaths.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Prosecutors ordered Morales's arrest in separate proceedings concerning the May–June blockades, with alleged offences including terrorism, armed uprising, criminal association and public incitement.

Attribution

Accused

The most serious current proceedings against Morales — aggravated trafficking involving a minor and the terrorism/uprising case linked to the blockades — remain at the stage of prosecutions, warrants and procedural measures.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Bolivian Constitutional Court confirmed that a person could serve no more than two presidential terms, whether consecutive or not, preventing Morales from standing in the 2025 election.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following the exclusion of his candidacy, Morales publicly encouraged supporters to invalidate their ballot papers and presented the invalid vote as a form of democratic resistance.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Morales returned to Bolivia following Luis Arce's victory in 2020. Their relationship subsequently developed into an open struggle for control of MAS and the presidential candidacy, culminating in mutual exclusions and mobilisations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Groups loyal to Morales blocked roads for several weeks to protest against the prosecutions targeting him, the economic crisis and obstacles to his candidacy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Morales claimed that his vehicle had been targeted in an assassination attempt ordered by the government. The government responded that his convoy had fired on an anti-drug patrol and wounded a police officer.

State of the evidence

Documented

While in exile in Argentina, Morales attempted to stand for the Senate. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal rejected his candidacy on the grounds that he did not meet the residence requirements.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The quick count was interrupted when Morales did not yet have the ten-point lead needed to avoid a second round. The OAS subsequently concluded that deliberate manipulation and serious irregularities made the results impossible to validate.

State of the evidence

Documented

After weeks of demonstrations and the public recommendation by the head of the armed forces that he leave office, Morales announced his resignation and subsequently left Bolivia.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The interim government secured an arrest warrant against Morales for sedition and terrorism, claiming that he had encouraged road blockades from exile.

Attribution

Accused

Under Morales, Bolivia adopted a law permitting children as young as 10 to work independently under certain conditions and paid employment from the age of 12 with parental authorisation, drawing strong criticism from UNICEF and the ILO.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Following the lost referendum, MAS obtained a Constitutional Court ruling invalidating re-election limits on the grounds that they restricted political rights protected by the American Convention.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Morales's former relationship with Gabriela Zapata, a commercial executive at the Chinese company CAMC, caused a scandal when it was alleged that their links had favoured public contracts. A parallel controversy concerned a child presented as their son.

Morales asked voters to amend the Constitution so that he could seek an additional term. The "no" vote won by approximately 51.3% to 48.7%.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

An investigation by the Contraloría uncovered hundreds of irregular or non-existent projects financed by the Fondo Indígena, leading to arrests and prosecutions of officials, leaders and elected representatives linked to MAS.

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

The Constitutional Court authorised Morales to seek a third term, considering that his first term, which began in 2006, preceded the 2009 Constitution and therefore should not count towards the re-election limit.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Morales supported a road crossing the TIPNIS Indigenous territory and national park. A lengthy Indigenous march against the project was violently dispersed by police in September 2011, causing a crisis within his Indigenous alliance.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Amid a crisis with regional opposition groups, Morales expelled US ambassador Philip Goldberg and subsequently banned DEA activities in Bolivia, accusing Washington and the anti-drug agency of conspiring against his government.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility