Bolivia Issues Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Evo Morales Over Human Trafficking of Minor

Dec 17, 2024, 07:36 AM

Bolivian prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales, 65, on charges of aggravated human trafficking and statutory rape involving a minor. According to the prosecutor's office in Tarija, led by Sandra Gutiérrez, Morales is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a girl starting when she was 14, resulting in the birth of a child when she was 16. The mother of the victim, Idelsa Pozo Saavedra, has also been charged. Authorities have requested six months of preventive detention and a migration alert for the ex-president, citing concerns about flight risk. The arrest warrant was issued on December 16 and awaits confirmation by a judge. Morales has denied the allegations, calling them a politically motivated 'brutal judicial war' orchestrated by his successor, President Luis Arce, to discredit him ahead of the 2025 elections.