Evo Morales Summoned to appear in Court!
La Paz, Dec 27 (EFE).-
A court in the southern region of Tarija issued an edict summoning former Bolivian President Evo Morales (2006-2019) to appear on Jan. 14 in a trial for aggravated human trafficking for allegedly having a relationship with a minor with whom he had a child.
“A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 9:30 am, with notification to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and other parties involved in the case,” reads the judicial document issued by Judge Nelson Rocabado.
The edict stated that the alleged victim, who was a minor in 2014, was “captured” by the “Youth Guard” led by the former president and the “Evo Generation” group.
The mother and father, the latter of whom has been in prison since October, allowed the minor to have “direct contact” with Morales, the document added.
The report stated that the then-Bolivian president “took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability and the parents” consent to ensure that the minor was “at his disposal” in different parts of the country and abroad.
It also mentioned that Morales used the alleged victim “to satisfy his sexual needs (…) in different events and trips, without considering that she was a 14-year-old girl.”
Morales and his supporters have repeatedly pointed out that the case was dismissed several years ago and has now been “unfiled” with the aim of discrediting him in the run-up to the 2025 presidential elections.
The former president has been in Lauca Ñ, his main political and union stronghold, since late September, when the Tarija regional prosecutor’s office opened an investigation against him for alleged human trafficking.
The announcement of an arrest warrant for Morales prompted his supporters to block roads for 24 days between October and November, demanding the criminal case against him to be dropped.
Last week, prosecutors formally charged the former Bolivian president and the mother of the alleged victim with aggravated human trafficking.
A few days ago, the Bolivian authorities issued an immigration alert against the former president while the police still await to comply with the court order.
In response, some like-minded leaders declared that Morales had an “elite” guard and warned that “blood will flow” if the police arrest him.
In addition to the case in Tarija, there are seven other complaints of alleged child abuse against Morales in Cochabamba.
In November, it became public that he was under criminal investigation for alleged human trafficking and sexual abuse in Argentina, where he lived for a year, since stepping down as president at the end of 2019.
These investigations against the politician come amid his estrangement with President Arce over control of MAS and the definition of the ruling party’s candidacy for the 2025 elections. EFE
grb/dgp
