Crime
Bolivian AG fires prosecutor who sought arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales on statutory rape charges
On Wednesday night it was learned that there was an arrest warrant against the former president, which was annulled a few hours later
October 3, 2024 2:09pm
Updated: October 4, 2024 9:25am
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales is being investigated for statutory rape and impregnating a 15-year old girl, according to government prosecutors in the South American country.
The charges were announced Wednesday night after an arrest warrant was issued against the Aymara politician and charges were announced by Bolivian prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez from the country’s Tarija Department.
The warrant was soon quashed however, after an appeal asserted that Morales was being improperly processed, and the prosecutor was subsequently fired from her job.
In a television interview with Bolivian media, Gutiérrez said the investigation came after a complaint was filed last week. The arrest warrant states that the case is related to an alleged link with a minor that occurred in 2018, and that this is stated in the arrest warrant.
Once the complaint was made, a team of prosecutors was formed and it was decided to open an investigation for the crimes of smuggling and trafficking, and prosecutors issued a arrest warrant against the former president and two other people whose identities were not revealed.
URGENTE: DESTITUYEN EN BOLIVIA A LA FISCAL QUE EMITIÓ ORDEN DE APREHENSIÓN EN CONTRA DE EVO MORALES POR DELITOS DE ESTUPRO Y TRATA DE PERSONAS. pic.twitter.com/QfWPolsTHe
— Antena 5 Radio (@a5radio) October 3, 2024
The Bolivian media has so far called the allegations “the biggest scandal in recent years in the nation's politics,” alleging that Morales impregnated a teenager when she was 15 years old, and that the minor gave birth when she was 16 years old.
The name of the girl was not released, although the initials of the alleged victim, C.S.V.P. were revealed by the prosecutor's office.
In response to the charges, Morales wrote on X, “I am neither surprised nor worried. All the neo-liberal governments, including the current one, threatened me, persecuted me, jailed me, tried to kill me. I am not afraid! They will not silence me!”
According to local television station DTV, the story dates back to May 2015 “when Evo Morales got a 15-year-old girl pregnant in Tarija. The teenager with the initials C.S.V.P. had meetings with Morales since she was 14 years old, but at 15 years old she became pregnant and months later on Feb. 8, 2016, a child with the initials E.S.M.V was born, who was registered and recognized by then President Evo Morales Ayma.”
The media shared several opinions from different politicians, legislators, lawyers and legal documents who support the charges, offering political criticism of the former president, saying that by 2016 Morales had all the power in Bolivia, and that he used that power to conceal his misdeeds.
Records filed by the Civic Registry Service (SERECI) and General Personal Identification Service (SEGIP) reveal that Morales was 57 years old when he had this sexual relationship with the minor.
Records also reveal that in September 2020 a complaint for this case was filed with the La Paz district attorney’s office against the former president, and that Morales confidante Attorney General Juan Lanchipa Ponce received the complaint but did not proceed with charges.
According to former prosecutor Gutiérrez, Lanchipa orchestrated her termination after she issued the arrest warrant against Morales.
“For me, this is persecution and I denounce it publicly, and I am also going to make a complaint to the international community,” Gutiérrez said, while saying she was required to resign from her post.
Prosecutors investigating the case have also asserted that Morales entered into a financial agreement with the minor's parents, according to a report aired by DTV.
The news about the arrest warrant generated a wave of reactions throughout the South American country, where dozens of celebrity personalities agreed that the former president must answer for his actions.
Eduardo Del Castillo, the appointed Minister of Government of Bolivia, told the media that the attorney general’s office will have to answer for their actions.
“The Attorney General must explain why he dismissed the Tarija prosecutor for investigating Morales for rape,” he said. “There are three complaints against [Morales] for rape,” he told Bolivian reporters.
Other potential cases involving Morales with minors have been reported in Bolivian news outlets, some of which have suggested he has fathered other children with minors.
Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández granted Morales asylum in 2019 after he left Bolivia for Mexico. After spending 11 months outside of Bolivia, he returned to his homeland in 2020.
