Bolivian government accuses Morales of organizing assassination attempt

Two very different versions have emerged of Sunday’s incident, when Morales says his car was hit by bullets.

Bolivia’s government has disputed former President Evo Morales’ claims that he was the victim of an assassination attempt by police last weekend in the latest incident, increasing tensions between the popular indigenous leader and his former ally, President Luis Arce.

Instead, the government on Monday accused Morales of attempting an attempt on his own life. The shots fired at his car on Sunday came after he attempted to run a police checkpoint.

Morales claims the government tried to kill him when bullets hit his car in the early hours of Sunday.

He said his driver was injured when assailants with their faces covered shot at him as he headed to a radio station for an interview in the city of Cochabamba.

“The car I arrived in has fourteen bullet holes,” Morales said, adding: “This was planned. The idea was to kill Evo.”

Government Secretary Eduardo del Castillo responded at a news conference that an anti-drug trafficking unit was conducting a standard highway patrol on Sunday when Morales’ convoy fired at police and ran over an officer. He denied that the former president was deliberately targeted.

“Mr. Morales, no one believes the theater you have performed,” he told reporters.

Evidence destroyed

According to the government, Morales’ vehicles were suspected of transporting drugs.

Del Castillo added that Morales ordered his vehicles burned after the collision, destroying all evidence before it could be collected.

“If he had actually been the victim of an assassination attempt, it would have been in his best interest to leave them intact” so investigators could search them to collect evidence, del Castillo said.

The radio station that hosted the interview, Kawsachun Coca, released a video saying it was the bullet-ridden pickup that Morales had been in.

The windshield had three bullet holes and the driver had blood on his head.

Rising tensions

Sunday’s incident comes amid rising tensions, with Morales’ supporters blocking highways in central Bolivia and security forces and police trying to clear them.

On Saturday, the government criticized the former president for “destabilizing” the country with two weeks of roadblocks that have disrupted food and fuel supplies across the country.

The government also claimed in a statement that some groups linked to Morales were armed and warned of possible violence, noting that 14 police officers had been injured trying to break the blockades.

At least 44 protesters were arrested on Friday when more than 1,700 police officers were deployed to dismantle the roadblocks. Fourteen police officers were injured, the government said.

Morales, 65, who held the position from 2006 to 2019, is the main opponent of Arce, 61. They both belong to the same Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party. But the two leaders have clashed over the past year as part of a power struggle ahead of the 2025 presidential election.

The country also faces declining gas production, depleted foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation, increasing pressure on the ruling party and intensifying political infighting.

Morales also faces allegations of relations with minors. He was formally summoned by regional prosecutors to testify in the case, but failed to appear and now faces an arrest warrant.

Morales strongly denies the allegations.