A Bolivian court has issued an arrest warrant for former president Evo Morales, who faces allegations of statutory rape and human trafficking after he failed to testify this week.
The accusations center around claims that Morales fathered a child with an unnamed 15-year-old girl while in office in 2016, when he was 57. According to the lawsuit, the girl’s parents reportedly agreed to the relationship in exchange for unspecified “political favors.”
Morales, who resigned amid unrest over disputed election results, contends that his opponents are fabricating these accusations to undermine the “popular movement.” The lawsuit states that the victim was a member of his political youth guard in 2015 when the alleged sexual relationship began.
In 2016, the girl gave birth to a daughter, whom Morales is accused of fathering. He now faces arrest for ignoring a summons from the prosecutor’s office in the southern Tarija department.
The victim’s parents have also failed to testify after being summoned and are at risk of apprehension as well. In Bolivia, statutory rape is classified as a private crime, only investigated upon a complaint from the victim or her parents.
Morales’ lawyer argues that the investigation is “illegal,” noting that a 2020 inquiry into the same claims was closed due to lack of evidence. However, the Tarija prosecutor who reopened the case has expanded it to include human trafficking and smuggling, citing suspicions that the girl’s parents enrolled her in his youth wing for political advancement and personal gain.
Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president elected in 2006, claims the allegations are fabricated by the government of his political rival, current president Luis Arce, aimed at discrediting him.
“The traitor government has unleashed a judicial war, criminalized social protest, and persecuted the political opposition,” Morales stated, comparing Arce to former president Jeanine Áñez.
“This is further proof that this is a right-wing government complying with the dictates of the White House,” he added in a recent statement on Twitter/X, insisting that his opponents are deliberately attempting to tarnish his reputation for political gain and urging the government not to interfere with his “family.”
