Bolivian politician and former president Evo Morales reported that his vehicle was shot at, blaming current president Luis Arce, his political rival. The recording posted on the Internet shows that the driver was injured.
Evo Morales, former president Bolivia and leader of the country's ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) party reported on Sunday that his car had been shot at.
– Those who shot were hooded (…). There are 14 bullet holes in the car I arrived in. It was planned. The goal was to kill (me), the former leader said.
Morales: The bullet passed centimeters from my head
The politician published a video on Facebook from inside the car, showing bullet holes in the windshield. In the background, you can hear the screams of a woman who was filming the entire incident from the back seat. Morales himself was sitting in the passenger seat. The recording shows that the driver was injured.
As Morales reported in a radio interview on Sunday, two vehicles stopped his car and shots were fired at him. He added that the bullet passed “centimeters” from his head. – I don't know if they were soldiers or policemen – he said. According to Morales, the current government is to blame for the attack on him.
Reuters states that it is currently unable to verify the authenticity of the video or Morales' claims about the attack. The Bolivian government did not respond to the agency's request for comment.
Reuters estimates that the alleged attack on Morales may further deepen social unrest and political instability in this South American country.
Accusations of “destabilizing” the country
On Saturday, the Bolivian government criticized Morales for “destabilizing” the country and “disrupting the democratic order.” Morales' supporters have been blocking roads for two weeks, stopping the transport of food and fuel across the country.
In its statement, the government warned against acts of violence, noting that some of the groups allied with Morales were armed. It was reported, among others: about 14 policemen who were injured while trying to break up roadblocks.
Evo Morales and President Luis Arce – former Minister of Economy in Morales' government – are members of the same MAS (Movement for Socialism) party, but over the last year there have been increasing disputes between them. Morales, who stepped down as president and fled the country in 2019, still enjoys strong support in the country. In 2020, he supported Luis Arce in the elections, but later returned to Bolivia and announced his intention to compete with him in the presidential elections in 2025.
Bolivia is also struggling with a deep economic crisis, which additionally puts pressure on the ruling party and leads to increasingly fierce political clashes.
Coup in Bolivia
On June 26, it happened failed coup in Bolivia. Army troops under the command of General Juan Jose Zuniga, supported by armored vehicles, occupied the central square in La Paz, and soldiers broke into the presidential palace located next to it.
As the media commented, this event may be remembered as the shortest coup attempt in this country, because it lasted only three hours. By this time, President Luis Arce had managed to call on Bolivians to “mobilize” to defend democracy and appointed new commanders who ordered the soldiers to withdraw and they returned to their barracks.
Shortly thereafter, General Zuniga was arrested. On the same day, in a conversation with journalists, he accused President Arcego of ordering him to carry out a fake coup to strengthen his weakening popularity. However, as commentators noted, the military did not provide any evidence for this. Nevertheless, the words of the arrested commander caused strong reactions both in the government and the opposition.
The accusations of faking a coup were picked up by the opposition, which demanded a parliamentary investigation into them. The group of politicians accusing Arcego was joined by, among others, Eva Morales. Initially, he described the army's actions as a rebellion and demanded that those responsible be punished, but then he accused the current president of organizing this action himself to gain voters' support.
Main photo source: JORGE ABREGO/EPA/PAP