Above photo: A handout photo made available by Radio Kawsachun Coca shows bullet holes on the vehicle that was transporting Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales, after a shooting incident, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, 27 October 2024. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed that unknown gunmen shot 14 times at the vehicle that was transporting him to the radio station where he usually hosts his weekend program, injuring the driver. EFE/EPA/Radio Kawsachun Coca.
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales reported that he survived an armed attack and an alleged attempt at capture early this morning while traveling on the road connecting Villa Tunari with Shinahota, in the Cochabamba Tropics, an area considered his main political stronghold.
The attack comes amid a growing internal crisis in the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the party founded by Morales, which is currently facing divisions and power disputes among its various factions.
“The first vehicle was hit by at least four shots. In this situation, Evo Morales changed vehicle hastily, it was hit by 14 shots. In that last vehicle, the driver was hit by a shot that grazed his head and another hit him in the arm” says a statement published by Morales in X.
Ex Pdte. Evo Morales denunció que fue objeto de un atentado esta mañana, cuando el vehículo en que se transportaba recibió 14 disparos. El chófer resultó herido. Video difundido por ex Pdte. Evo en radio Kausachum Coca @teleSURtv pic.twitter.com/nrXhbrpZyj
— Freddy Morales (@FreddyteleSUR) October 27, 2024
In the tropics of Cochabamba, a climate of high tension is reported after an attack, with supporters of Evo Morales mobilizing in response. The region, which strongly supports the former president, remains vigilant in the face of possible further incidents.
The Bolivian government, through the deputy minister of Citizen Security, Roberto Ríos, has denied the existence of an arrest warrant against Morales and emphasized the need to investigate any complaint about a possible self-attack, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Morales reported the day before an attack on the union headquarters of the Special Federation of Peasant Workers of the Tropics in Cochabamba, allegedly carried out by vandal groups.
In this sense, the communiqué calls on the international community to “condemn” the act and “the instances called by law for the individualization of those responsible and the corresponding criminal sanction.”