World
2019.12.15 13:13 GMT+8

Bolivia's interim leader: Arrest warrant to be issued against Morales

Updated 2019.12.15 13:13 GMT+8
CGTN

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales looks on during an interview with Reuters, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 15, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Bolivia will issue an arrest warrant in the coming days against former leftist President Evo Morales, accusing him of sedition, interim Bolivian President Jeanine Anez said on Saturday. 

Morales is in Argentina, granted refugee status this week just days after the inauguration of new President Alberto Fernandez. Fernandez succeeded outgoing conservative Argentine leader Mauricio Macri, who lost his bid for re-election in October. 

Morales had spent the previous month in Mexico in the wake of a highly-contested October election in Bolivia. He had proclaimed victory while the voting results' transparency and legitimacy were largely doubted and prompted protests nationwide.  

Morales, who had been in power for nearly 14 years, resigned on November 10 and left Bolivia to Mexico the following day as the controversy grew. 

Some of his Latin American allies, including Fernandez and the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, have voiced support for him, calling the previous accusation part of a "coup" by the military and opposition.  

Anez denied there was any coup. 

After Morales's resignation, Anez, then vice president of the Senate, announced her move to her current role without any voting sessions. Bolivia's Constitutional Court defended her new role and ruled that the appointment does not need to pass the Congress led by Morales's Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party.  

"He can return whenever he wants. He left because he wanted to," Anez told reporters. "The arrest warrant will be issued in the next few days, because we have already brought the charges." 

(With input from Reuters) 

Copyright © 

RELATED STORIES