Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claims he was attacked with several shots fired at his vehicle

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales (2006-2019) claimed Sunday that there was an assassination attempt against him by "hooded men" who fired at his vehicle and wounded his driver in Cochabamba, in central Bolivia.

Morales accuses the government of Luis Arce, with whom he entrenched in a battle for party leadership, of being behind the attack, while the government said it will investigate the possibility that it was a "self-attack."

"The car in which I arrived has 14 shots. I was surprised. Happily today our lives were saved. ... They were hooded men who fired. ... This was planned, it was to kill Evo," affirmed Morales, talking about himself, in an interview with the radio station Kawsachun Coca just after the incident.

Vice Minister of Citizen Security Roberto Ríos said that the authorities will investigate the report of the armed attack, although they also consider the possibility that it was staged.

"As state authorities we are obligated to investigate any claim, whether it is true or a lie, about the existence of a self-attack," Ríos told the press.

According to a statement issued by the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), the party founded by the former president, the events occurred at the entrance of a military barracks in Cochabamba, where subjects with "long weapons, completely dressed in black" shot at the vehicles that were part of Morales' motorcade.

The alleged attack occurred a day after Arce changed the military leadership of the country, in the midst of road blockades promoted by Morales' supporters protesting a judicial investigation against him.