LA PAZ, Feb 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Bolivia’s interim government on Monday
honored police from the Cochabamba department that went on strike a day
before former president Evo Morales dramatically resigned.
Morales quit in November and fled the country after three weeks of social
unrest over his contentious re-election.
Interior Minister Arturo Murillo praised the police for being “the first
line of containment” against what he described as “narcoterrorists.”
Morales stood for an unconstitutional fourth mandate as president in
October’s election and was awarded victory after a highly suspicious 24-hour
suspension of the live, transparent vote count.
As the protests raged against his re-election, police in Cochabamba — a
hot-bed of support for Morales — went on strike.
An audit by the Organization of American States found Morales had been the
beneficiary of vote rigging, and subsequently the military withdrew its
support for the former trade union leader.
He fled to Mexico and a month later took up asylum in Argentina.
Now the 60-year-old is trying to return to Bolivia to stand for the Senate
in May’s general election.
But there is a warrant out for Morales’ arrest after the interim government
accused him of sedition and terrorism for allegedly urging his supporters to
lay siege to major cities including La Paz.