Evo Morales summoned to testify for alleged crimes of 'human trafficking' and 'rape'
After pressure for his dismissal, a judge reinstated the prosecutor investigating the former president for the rape of a minor, with whom he allegedly had a child.
Evo Morales at a political event
Bolivian Attorney General Juan Lanchipa reported Monday that he summoned Evo Morales to testify on the case of alleged "trafficking of minors" and "statutory rape."
"The three people in this case, among them Mr. Evo Morales, and the parents of the victim have been summoned for Thursday, Oct. 10 in the departmental prosecutor's office of Tarija," the attorney general told the local press.
According to Minister of Justice César Siles, Morales is involved in an investigation for the possible "rape" of a minor, with whom he allegedly had a child. He also allegedly created a network of children between 14 and 15 years old to have at his disposal during his presidency. Siles' complaint also says that the parents of the alleged victim gave her to the former president in exchange for favors.
Last week, the departmental prosecutor of Tarija, Sandra Gutiérrez, claimed that she was fired for wanting to execute an arrest warrant against Evo Morales. Later, that warrant was suspended by Judge Lilian Moreno, of Santa Cruz, who granted an appeal of action for freedom presented by the former president's lawyers.
A judge ordered the reinstatement of the former prosecutor who approved Morales' warrant
Constitutional guarantees Judge Iván Córdoba instructed the Attorney General's Office of Bolivia to reinstate Sandra Gutiérrez. In doing so, Córdoba annulled the dismissal of Gutiérrez in a hearing held over the weekend, and held that the dismissal was an arbitrary act, executed under internal pressure from the Public Ministry.
On Oct. 2, the prosecutor released the complaint against Morales and two other people in an investigation in which the former president is accused of getting a teenage girl pregnant in 2016.
That same day, Gutiérrez claimed that Attorney General Juan Lanchipa ordered her not to investigate Morales and asked her to resign. Faced with these revelations, Lanchipa denied ordering to stop the investigation. The case against the former president remains open in the Departmental Prosecutor's Office of Tarija and was declared in reserve in order to protect the rights and guarantees of the victim. Lanchipa confirmed that Gutiérrez has been given back her position.
Morales claims the case is 'lawfare'
As expected, Morales maintained that the accusations are "political persecution" with the aim of damaging his presidential candidacy in the 2025 election.
"The #Lawfare is the new Condor Plan: they no longer assassinate with bullets, now they promote moral assassinations through sentences against popular leadership. They initiated four judicial processes against us simultaneously, all with forced actions to seek our apprehension," Morales wrote on X Monday.
Meanwhile, the Puebla Group also pointed to an alleged "lawfare campaign" for the case against the former Bolivian president. "Despite all the mediation efforts made by a group of fellow members of the Puebla Group between former President Evo Morales and President Luis Arce, their legitimate differences now seem to have been transferred to the judicial courts," the Puebla Group said in a statement. Evo Morales is in the midst of an internal battle with his former ally and current President Luis Arce for control of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism party and the Bolivian executive.
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