The hostile arrest marks a major escalation about three weeks after Morales’ supporters began blocking roads to prevent his arrest on charges of raping a teenage girl.
Morales, 65, who was president from 2006 to 2019, is accused of rape and smuggling. The allegations are related to Morales’ sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl from a youth political group in 2015. In 2016, the girl gave birth to a child whose father is believed to be Morales.
Bolivia‘s armed forces said on Friday that “irregular armed groups” had “kidnapped military personnel” and seized weapons and ammunition. A news source said that about 20 soldiers were kidnapped.
Morales announced on Friday in Chapare that he would go on hunger strike “until the government (..) comes to the negotiating table”.
Although Morales is barred from running again in the presidential elections, he wants to be a rival to the current president Luis Arces in the nomination of the left party MAS for the presidential elections in August 2025.
Days after Morales led thousands of Bolivians to march on the capital La Paz to protest Arse’s policies, prosecutors said the former president was being investigated for rape and human trafficking.
Ass on Wednesday called for an immediate end to the roadblock and warned that if his request was not heard, the government would “use its constitutional powers to secure the interests of the Bolivian people.”
Ass did not say whether he was considering using the army to block the roads or declare a state of emergency, which some Bolivians have called for to stop the violence.
Morales said he interpreted Arse’s statements as a threat.
The mood escalated on Sunday after Morales accused state agents of trying to kill him in the Chaparral area. Surveillance photos posted on social media show shots being fired at the car Morales was in.
The government, in turn, said that the police opened fire on the car after it passed a checkpoint at high speed. In addition, shots were fired at the police from one of the cars accompanying Morales.
The checkpoint was established to combat drug trafficking in the Chapare region, one of the main coca growing areas in Bolivia.
