Evo Morales

Evo Morales
Official portrait, 2018
President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia President of the Republic of Bolivia (2006–2009)
In office January 22, 2006 – November 10, 2019
Preceded by	Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé
Succeeded by	Jeanine Áñez
President of the MAS-IPSP
In office July 23, 1997 – May 5, 2024
Preceded by	David Áñez Pedraza
Succeeded by	Grover García
President of Club Atlético Palmaflor
In office January 19, 2023 – December 1, 2023
Preceded by	Denar Sarzuri Huarachi
President pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
In office January 14, 2019 – November 10, 2019
Preceded by	Salvador Sánchez Cerén
Succeeded by	Jeanine Áñez
President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations
In office April 21, 2018 – April 15, 2019
Preceded by	Mauricio Macri
Succeeded by	Jair Bolsonaro
President pro tempore of the Andean Community
In office May 26, 2019 – November 10, 2019
Preceded by	Martín Vizcarra
Succeeded by	Jeanine Áñez
In office October 14, 2014 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by	Ollanta Humala
Succeeded by	Juan Manuel Santos
In office July 22, 2010 – July 23, 2011
Preceded by	Alan García
Succeeded by	Juan Manuel Santos
In office April 20, 2006 – June 14, 2007
Preceded by	Hugo Chávez
Succeeded by	Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Deputy in the National Congress of Bolivia
In office August 6, 1997 – January 24, 2002
Constituency	Cochabamba
Personal details
Born	Juan Evo Morales Ayma (1959-10-26)October 26, 1959 Village of Isallavi, Carangas Province, Oruro Department, Republic of Bolivia
Party	MAS-IPSP
Domestic partner	Gabriela Zapata (2005–2007)
Children	Two
Parent(s)	Dionisio Morales Choque María Ayma Mamani
Occupation	Politician, trade unionist and activist
Cabinet	Ministers of Evo Morales
Signature

Juan Evo Morales Ayma (Isallavi, Bolivia, October 26, 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade unionist, activist and leader of Aymara descent who served as President of Bolivia from January 22, 2006, until November 10, 2019, the date on which he submitted his resignation due to a political crisis.

He began his activism in the trade union movement in the 1980s in the Unified Syndical Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB). He rose to lead the Special Federation of the Tropics, one of the six trade union federations of coca producers organized in the area of the Chapare Province, which since 1991 have been coordinated by a Coordinating Committee chaired by him. He was one of the founders of the Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (IPSP), which would later ally with the Movement for Socialism (MAS) to take part in the 1997 general election, in which he was elected deputy for Cochabamba; he chaired the MAS–IPSP from 1997 until 2024, after the Constitutional Tribunal ruled in favor of Grover García as the new leader of the party.

Evo Morales ran for the first time in the 2002 presidential election. He came in second place behind Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. In the 2005 election, he obtained almost 54% of the vote. In this way, he became the first President of Indigenous origin. He was reelected in the 2009 election with 64.22% of the vote and, in the 2014 election, with 63.36%. He is the third Bolivian head of state in the history of the republic to be elected by an absolute majority of votes, after Hernán Siles Zuazo in 1956 and Víctor Paz Estenssoro in 1960. Morales, who remained in power for almost fourteen years, is one of the most recognized leaders of the Latin American left. For this reason, Time magazine named him in 2008 one of the hundred most powerful people in the world.

During his administration, Bolivia was one of the countries with the highest economic growth in South America, with average GDP growth of 5% per year, which earned it the nickname of the "Bolivian economic miracle." Extreme poverty in Bolivia fell from 36.7% to 16.8% between 2005 and 2015. There was also an improvement in income distribution, with the Gini index falling from 0.60 in 2005 to 0.47 in 2016, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia.

With regard to education, starting in 2006 the Cuban literacy method "Yo, sí puedo" ("Yes, I can") was applied, which made it possible to go from the 13.3% illiteracy indicated by the 2001 census, to 3.7%. This figure earned the country the declaration of "free of illiteracy," according to UNESCO in 2008. In addition, in 2010 the Avelino Siñani-Elizardo Pérez Education Law was approved, which establishes free and intercultural education.

In health matters, the Unified Health System was established to offer universal and free healthcare. In human rights, the recognition of Indigenous rights contemplated in the 2009 Constitution stands out, as does the gender identity law approved in 2016.

On November 10, 2019—in a context of protests, social pressure and accusations of fraud in the general election of October 20— Evo Morales submitted his resignation after receiving threats against his person, his collaborators and his property, at the suggestion of the Bolivian Armed Forces and the police.

The following day (November 11) he accepted the political asylum offered by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico. On November 12, 2019, he arrived at Mexico City International Airport, where he was received by the Mexican foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard. A month later, on December 12, 2019, Evo Morales moved to Argentina as a refugee, accompanied by former Vice President Álvaro García Linera and other former ministers. After almost a year of exile in Argentina, he returned to Bolivia on November 9, 2020. For security reasons, he was accompanied on his return by the Argentine President Alberto Fernández.

In December 2023, the TCP declared "indefinite reelection" inapplicable, leaving him ineligible to run in the 2025 election for having governed three consecutive terms. In October 2024, the Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation for "human trafficking" against Morales, accusing him of having raped a fifteen-year-old minor, with whom he allegedly fathered a daughter.

Early life

He was born on October 26, 1959, in the community of Isallavi, in the canton of Orinoca in the Oruro Department, on the Altiplano of Bolivia. He is the son of Dionisio Morales Choque and María Ayma Mamani and a descendant of a family of farmers and llama breeders. Morales is of Indigenous Uru-Aymara origin and his mother tongue is Aymara. From childhood he worked the land and was a herder of llamas. They were seven siblings, of whom only three survived: Esther, the eldest (deceased), Evo, and Hugo, the youngest; they live in Oruro. He lost four others: Luis, Eduvé, Reyna, and the fourth died at birth.

From childhood, Morales helped with agricultural tasks. At the age of six he emigrated with his family during the sugarcane harvest season to the community of Galilea (in Tucumán Province) and Campo Santo (in Salta Province), in northern Argentina. There he went to school for the first time, in April 1966, attending first grade at School No. 4136 Julio Argentino Cornejo, located on the La Población estate in the town of Campo Santo, some 60 kilometers from the city of Salta. In 2014 Morales would visit the school, which he described with the expression "this is where it all began," and decided to sponsor it:

It was the obligation of the Argentine State that the children of the sugarcane harvesters go to classes. I did not understand Spanish, I spoke only Aymara, and sitting at the back behind all my classmates, I don't remember what they would talk about, because I didn't understand... My father was very hardworking and generous. He worked Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, he did not rest. He only waited for the pay. You earned good money in the harvest, and when we returned to the house where I was born, we took back a cot to sleep on that we bought here. It was a luxury, we got to know our first cot thanks to the harvest in Argentina. My mother and my father slept there and we kept sleeping on the floor. My sister always said: "I want that cot for myself," so when she got married, my father gave it to her as an inheritance. Many Bolivian families improved our economy thanks to the Argentine harvest. My first school was Argentine, the Julio Argentino Cornejo school, and those of us who studied at this school know how to be president.

— Evo Morales

The following year he returned to Bolivia.

My dad, every morning before going out to work, made his offering to the Pachamama, who is Mother Earth; my mom also performed the ch'alla with alcohol and coca leaves so that things would go well for us throughout the day. It was as if my parents spoke with the earth, with nature.

Working throughout his childhood, Morales managed to devote himself to his favorite sport: soccer, a sport that later led him to hold his first union post, that of Secretary of Sports of his community. He also trained at Club San José, of Oruro.

When the llamas were grazing on the hills, I would grab my rag ball and dribble around them [zigzagging between the obstacles] one by one. The goals were the paja brava grass tufts or the yaretas, and my inseparable companion was a dog named Trébol.

— Evo Morales

Education and military service

Evo Morales in 2009

From a very young age he began to show his leadership skills.

Since I was a kid, I remember, I was an organizer, I was a mobilizer. At the Sectional school of Calavilca, when I was in first grade, the teacher had us draw a donkey. I drew it and painted it red, yellow and green. That was the joke of the class for the whole year: "Evo's donkey is red, yellow and green." When I was thirteen or fourteen, I founded a soccer team in my community; it was called Fraternidad and we took part in the championships. I was the captain, the delegate, I was the referee. I was like the owner of the team. I had to shear sheep, llama wool. My dad helped me; he was very sporty. We sold the wool to buy balls, uniforms. At sixteen, the three ayllus of the community, the different delegates, chose me as head coach of the team of the whole canton.

When he was fifteen—explained his cousin Adela Ayma—he visited, together with his schoolmates from the Unidad Educativa Central Orinoca school, the Palacio Quemado in La Paz. The logistics team did not allow them to speak with the President because he was busy. Evo was so offended that he told his friends: "Someday I'm going to be president and you'll find me easily."ref>"Hay Evo Morales para rato". www.semana.com (in español). Retrieved March 19, 2017.</ref>

To continue his studies Evo Morales traveled to Oruro, where he worked as a brickmaker, a baker and a trumpeter. He came to play in the Banda Real Imperial, an activity that allowed him to travel and get to know diverse realities.

One of the fondest memories I have with the band is the one about my trip through the mining centers of southern Potosí. We traveled to the Quechisla mining company. I must have been sixteen, still a youngster and with many anecdotes.

He studied up to the first year of primary school at the Beltrán Ávila school. He then left to do his compulsory military service at the General Staff in La Paz. During that period he witnessed the coups d'état of Juan Pereda Asbún and David Padilla Arancibia, both in 1978.

On leaving the barracks he returned to his community to work in coca. But nature changed the life of the Morales family and of thousands of other community members of Orinoca. In 1980 the El Niño phenomenon wiped out more than 70% of agricultural production and took more than 50% of the animals.

One afternoon we finished the hilling (turning over the soil) of the potatoes with many laborers, then a wind came in the night and the frost arrived. The next day the potato field was burned, black, with an ugly smell. My mom cried all day, my dad was with my uncles and there they decided: "Here we will never progress, we will never be prosperous peasants, we have to go and look for land in eastern Bolivia."

Shortly afterward, the family set out on a journey to Cochabamba to begin a new life as settlers in San Francisco, in the Chapare region.

Coca-grower trade unionist

In 1981 he was appointed Secretary of Sports of his union, San Francisco. In 1983 his father died. He then gave up his union responsibilities to devote himself entirely to the family work. In addition, he frequently had to travel from the Chapare to Orinoca to attend to agricultural activities in his community of origin.

Throughout his career as a trade unionist, Morales has represented the sector of immigrant settlers (Aymaras and Quechuas), peasants who grow coca in the Chapare Region of Bolivia. In 1985 he was appointed secretary general of his union. In 1988, when the government of the MNR got Congress to approve, on July 19, the Law on the Regime of Coca and Controlled Substances (Law 1008)—which provided for the gradual reduction and substitution of surplus crops through the planting of alternative crops or else the forced uprooting of coca fields without the right to compensation—his comrades elected him executive secretary of the Federation of the Tropics at an expanded assembly (ampliado) in the Chapare. Throughout his union career, Morales experienced prison and confinement. In 1989, while paying tribute to comrades fallen in defense of the coca crops, members of UMOPAR beat him and threw him into the bush, convinced that he was dead.

On more than one occasion, particularly when I was held in prison, I heard in the media that, with great sincerity, the following phrase came from the very depths of the grassroots: "In the Chapare there are thousands of Evos."

During the nineties, the coca growers clashed repeatedly with the government of Hugo Banzer Suárez, who had promised the United States the total eradication of coca crops in the country. Morales was the top leader of a federation of coca-growing peasants that resisted the government's plans for the eradication of the cultivation of the coca leaf, considering it part of the ancestral culture of the Aymara Indigenous people; the federation had counter-proposed to Banzer a zero cocaine plan instead of the zero coca demanded by the United States Government.

In 1994, to reinforce their demands, the coca growers undertook the march for life, coca and dignity along the 600 kilometers that separate Cochabamba from La Paz. Attacked by the security forces at the beginning, the coca growers evaded the uniformed posts along the way. The closer they got to the seat of Government, the more people came out into the streets to encourage the coca-grower marchers, offering them drink, food, clothing and shoes. They entered La Paz cheered by the population and invited by the authorities to conclude agreements, as the authorities had no other choice given the wave of general enthusiasm. Once the coca growers had returned to the Tropics and calm had returned to the country, the authorities disowned the agreements and sent the uniformed forces back in.

The struggle of the coca growers and their march spread beyond Bolivia's borders. As the leader of the movement against eradication, an international coalition of left-wing politicians and academics nominated Morales for the Nobel Peace Prize of 1995 and 1996. From then on, Morales tried to spread his views beyond Bolivia's borders. He traveled to Europe together with delegations of coca growers from the Tropics, from the Yungas and from Peru to speak in defense of coca cultivation, asserting that anti-drug policies did not distinguish between the coca leaf and cocaine.

[In 1997] I went through difficult moments in Eterazama, where the DEA machine-gunned from a helicopter and there were five dead in minutes. [...] At the Human Rights headquarters, in Villa Tunari in the year 2000, they tried to riddle me with bullets but failed; the bullet grazed past me.

— Evo Morales

Political career

Toward power

In 1997, under the pressure of electoral deadlines, an already registered party was needed, so the Confederation of Workers of the Cochabamba Tropics led by Morales decided to merge with the Movement for Socialism (MAS). Later, on July 23 of that year, it was refounded under Morales's leadership. That same year he entered Parliament as deputy for Cochabamba with 70% of the vote. In a first attempt to win power in 2002, Morales and the MAS drew up a government program that included the convening of a constituent assembly and an undefined hydrocarbons policy. In particular, the MAS did not want the gas from Tarija to be sold through a Chilean port, as long as that country did not negotiate the restitution of access to the ocean, the Atacama strip, which Bolivia lost as a result of the War of the Pacific, or Saltpeter War, in 1879.

Four days before the election, the then United States ambassador, Manuel Rocha, declared that if Bolivians elected "those who want Bolivia to once again be a major cocaine exporter," United States aid would be at risk. In the presidential election, Morales obtained 20.9% of the vote, 1.6% less than the winner, Sánchez de Lozada. In the legislative election, the MAS took 11.9%, which translated into 27 deputies and eight senators, becoming the second parliamentary force behind the alliance of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) and the Free Bolivia Movement (MBL). The MAS supporters were the most voted force in the Andean departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí, in addition to the stronghold of Cochabamba. Morales also ran for deputy and in this election won the seat for his constituency with 81.3% of the vote.

Proud of our culture, with our clothing and with our coca, for the first time in our history, peasants, Indigenous and native peoples entered the National Parliament.

Gas War: leader of the opposition

Main article: Gas War (Bolivia)

Morales emerged greatly strengthened from the elections and quickly became the top leader of the opposition; outside the alliance agreed upon to elect Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada as president, he opposed his government, both outside and inside Congress. Shortly after reaching the Head of State's office, Sánchez de Lozada took economic measures of an anti-popular nature.

Under the slogan "Against the eradication of coca, for the state takeover of hydrocarbons and the convening of a constituent assembly," in February 2003 the MAS, together with other trade union and civil organizations, squarely opposed the so-called impuestazo, the new direct, progressive and non-deductible tax of up to 12.5%, with which the government hoped to cut the fiscal deficit. On February 12 and 13, 2003, in La Paz and its surroundings, thousands of demonstrators, striking police officers and soldiers charged with imposing order clashed.

Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign in October 2003; power passed on an interim basis into the hands of Carlos Mesa Gisbert, who likewise had to face the opposition of the population in another crisis, although the MAS temporarily gave Mesa the support it had denied Sánchez de Lozada. In June 2005, Mesa resigned from the Presidency due to the radicalization of the popular mobilizations. Finally, the interim Presidency fell to Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, until then President of the Supreme Court of Justice, who, according to the law, was to remain in the Presidency for a maximum period of six months while the National Congress enacted a law calling elections.

Presidential campaign (2005)

Main article: 2005 Bolivian general election

Morales, on his second attempt, reached the presidential chair in the early presidential election of December 2005, which he won by obtaining 53.74% of the vote, against 28.59% for his main opponent, Jorge Quiroga Ramírez. He was also the fourth head of state in the history of Bolivia to be elected by an absolute majority. The vice-presidential candidate on the ticket was Álvaro García Linera. In his first speeches he declared the need for the state takeover of hydrocarbons, whose ownership at the wellhead was in the hands of transnational oil companies, through concessions that he described as null and void.

On January 21, 2006, Morales attended a religious ceremony in the ancient ruins of Tiwanaku, where he was crowned Apu Mallku, or "supreme leader," by several Indigenous peoples of Los Andes, and received gifts from representatives of Indigenous nationalities of Latin America and the world. This was the first time since the coronation of Túpac Amaru that this title had been granted.

Presidential career

Electoral results

Election	Ticket		Party	First round			Runoff		Result	Legislators
	President	Vice President		Votes	%	Place	Votes	%		Senators	Deputies
2002	Evo Morales	Antonio Peredo Leigue	MAS-IPSP	581,884	20.94%	2nd	43	27.74%	✗ Not elected	8 / 27	27 / 130
							Note: Runoff by parliamentary vote
2005	Evo Morales	Álvaro García Linera	MAS-IPSP	1,544,374	53.72%	1st			✓ Elected	12 / 27	72 / 130
2009	Evo Morales	Álvaro García Linera	MAS-IPSP	2,943,209	64.22%	1st			✓ Elected	26 / 36	88 / 130
2014	Evo Morales	Álvaro García Linera	MAS-IPSP	3,173,304	61.36%	1st			✓ Elected	25 / 36	88 / 130
2019	Evo Morales	Álvaro García Linera	MAS-IPSP	2,889,359	47.08%	1st			Annulled	21 / 36	67 / 130

Presidency of Bolivia (2006–2019)

Main article: Government of Evo Morales

On January 22, 2006, Morales received the transfer of command and took office as constitutional President of the Republic.

Economic policy

Evo Morales, last President of the "Republic of Bolivia" and first President of the Plurinational State.

In one of his first actions, he decided to fulfill one of his campaign promises and cut his salary by 57 %. The salaries of many other government officials and public administration employees were also reduced, since by law no public employee may earn a salary higher than the President's. During Evo Morales's 14 years in office, gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an average of 5.2 % per year.

In 2008, Bolivia achieved its highest recorded growth, 6.2 %, reaching a peak of 7.1 % in the third quarter of the year, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). GDP per capita doubled between 2005 and 2013. In 2009 the country continued to grow economically, to the point that the following year the World Bank removed Bolivia from the list of low-income countries and placed it in the group of middle-income countries.

From 2010 onward, according to some indicators, the economic situation began to deteriorate as a consequence of the global economic crisis. In August of that year, a strike in the Department of Potosí paralyzed the southeastern region of Bolivia for 19 days. The Potosí authorities demanded that the central government address a series of demands necessary for the department's development. The protesters resorted to road blockades, exactly the same type of protest that Evo Morales had used against the governments of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and Carlos Mesa. Morales eventually agreed to meet most of the demands.

In December 2010, the Morales government announced the elimination of fuel subsidies. The measure caused the price of fuel to rise by up to 80 %, which unleashed a wave of protests throughout the country. There was a general rise in the prices of basic basket goods, and inflation soared. After several days of intense protests, in the first days of January 2011, Morales revoked the elimination of the subsidies, which succeeded in calming the population. More recently, the Bolivian government managed to bring inflation under control, and decreases in the prices of basic goods have been recorded.

Also in early 2011, an unusual food crisis broke out. Numerous products suddenly became scarce, for example sugar.

The FAO blamed the shortage on Evo Morales himself, for his decision to ban sugar exports, an accusation the government denied, asserting that the measure was justified.

In September 2010 a report was released according to which, in the first seven months of 2011, Bolivia imported more food than in all of 2010. The government accused businessmen in the sector of raising prices and engaging in unjustified price gouging in order to inconvenience the population and thereby pursue a political aim opposed to the government.

Nationalization of companies

On May 1, 2006, Morales decreed the definitive nationalization of the country's hydrocarbon resources, while a military contingent and officials of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) were deployed to some oil installations and gas stations, thus fulfilling one of the electoral promises made in his presidential campaign.

The regulations require that the companies exploiting the deposits be mixed companies in which YPFB holds at least 51 % of the capital. These companies must deliver their production to that public company, which is in charge of marketing it, setting the conditions, volumes and prices both for the domestic market and for export and industrialization. The Bolivian State keeps 82 % of the revenue and the oil companies 18 %. The companies involved have stated that under these conditions exploitation remains profitable.

A similar regulatory orientation is found in seven decrees on land distribution issued in June 2006, which order the granting of property titles to state lands to poor peasants, particularly indigenous people; these measures are part of a much more ambitious plan: the nationalization of the latifundia for redistribution among agricultural workers, who have historically been in a situation of exploitation.

Subsequently, the government proceeded to nationalize Entel (the country's largest telephone company), the cement company Fancesa, the Huanuni and Colquiri mines, and the electric power generation and distribution service.

Agricultural policy

Some regions of Bolivia are largely under the power of the ranchers, the large owners of cattle and pig farms, and many small farmers remain reduced to peons. However, the presence of the State was considerably strengthened under the government of Evo Morales.

The agrarian reform promised by Evo Morales—and approved in a referendum by almost 80 % of the population—was never implemented. It sought to abolish latifundism by reducing the maximum size of properties that did not have an "economic and social function" to 5000 hectares, with the remainder to be distributed among small agricultural workers and landless indigenous people. In 2009, the government gave in to the agro-industrial sector, which in exchange committed to ending the pressure it was exerting, which was endangering the implementation of the new Constitution.

Nevertheless, a series of economic reforms and projects improved the situation of poor peasant families. They received agricultural machinery, tractors, fertilizers, seeds and breeding animals, while the State built irrigation systems, roads and bridges to make it easier for them to sell their products in the markets. The situation of many indigenous people and small farmers was regularized through the granting of property titles to the lands they used.

In 2007, the government created a "Bank for Productive Development" through which small agricultural workers and producers can easily obtain loans, with low interest and with repayment terms adapted to agricultural cycles. As a result of improved banking supervision, loan interest rates for small and medium agricultural producers were reduced three times between 2014 and 2019 at all banking institutions. In addition, the law now requires banks to devote at least 60 % of their resources to productive loans or to the construction of social housing.

With the creation of the Food Production Support Company (Emapa), the government sought to stabilize the domestic market for agricultural products by buying the production of small and medium farmers at the best price, thus forcing agri-food companies to offer them fairer remuneration. According to Vice President Àlvaro García Linera, "by establishing the rules of the game, the State is establishing a new balance that gives more power to small producers. Wealth is better redistributed to balance the weight of the agro-industrial sector. This generates stability, which allows for a prosperous economy and benefits everyone."

Evo Morales during his visit to the city of La Plata (Argentina), in 2013.

Constitutional reform

Main article: Political Constitution of the State of Bolivia of 2009

On July 2 the referendum for the election of assembly members was held, in which the 255 members of a Constituent Assembly were elected, charged with drafting a new constitution and deciding on the conception of regional autonomies in the future constitution. In these elections Morales's party obtained an absolute majority of seats, but not the two-thirds needed to approve the future fundamental charter without making deals with other forces.

On the question of autonomies, the "No" option promoted by Morales also won, with a relative minority of the votes, prevailing in five departments (Chuquisaca, La Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí and Oruro), while "Yes" won in the remaining four departments (Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni).

The Constituent Assembly of Bolivia spent nine months before drafting the first article of the new Magna Carta. According to the government, this was due to the boycott by the opposition, which had a stronghold in Sucre, seat of the Assembly. Morales urged moving the seat to another city where the necessary guarantees for the meetings would exist, but the legislative branch refused.

Finally, it was approved organically on December 10, 2007, in the city of Oruro, by 164 of the 255 constituent assembly members, amid a crisis caused by the opposition's refusal to recognize the legality of the assembly. Its definitive promulgation was conditional on two referendums: one to settle the controversy over a group of articles and another on the constitutional text as a whole. The opposition claimed that the conclusions of the constituent assembly had been discredited because legal procedures had not been followed, the participation of the opposition had been prevented, and they had been drafted by a committee in a military barracks and later in an office of the National Lottery building.

On January 25, 2009, the referendum to ratify the new Constitution had a turnout of 90.26 % of the citizens registered to take part in it, the highest of all the electoral consultations held in the country. The Magna Carta was approved with 2,064,397 votes, corresponding to 61.43 % of the total. "No" obtained 1,296,175 votes (that is, 38.57 %). Blank votes amounted to 1.7 % and null votes to 2.91 %.

Transitional Electoral Law

Following criticism of the partiality of the National Electoral Court and after flaws in the previous electoral roll were confirmed, a new electoral law was approved in general terms. When the article-by-article vote was about to begin, the opposition left the chamber, breaking the quorum. The Government attempted to approve the law without taking into account the prior negotiations between the parties.

Morales began a fast that was joined by several civic leaders, as well as some three thousand Bolivians throughout the country and even in Argentina and Spain. This fast lasted until April 24, 2009. After accepting that a new electoral roll would be drawn up, the opposition returned to dialogue at a negotiating table, where an agreement was reached to approve the Transitional Electoral Law (LET). Congress approved a law with more than 23 articles changed from the MAS proposal. A new electoral roll was imposed and voting abroad was limited. On these points the Morales government had to compromise under the pressure of public opinion.

Health policy

From 2007 to 2014, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the budget allocated to health increased by 173 percent, making Bolivia one of the South American countries most committed to prioritizing health. The Pan American Health Organization reported in 2015 that vaccination campaigns had eliminated or significantly reduced poliomyelitis, rubella and measles. In 2017, the WHO reported that infant mortality had decreased by 50 % and child malnutrition by 14 % in a decade.

The Political Constitution of Bolivia, through Article 18, establishes a Single Health System that must be universal, free, equitable, intracultural, intercultural, participatory, with quality, warmth and social oversight. After several years of legislative processing, the Single Health System Law was enacted in February 2019. In its first months almost two million people registered.

Education, science and technology policy

A significant action undertaken by the MAS government was the literacy campaign launched in the first year of the legislative term. To this end the "Yo sí puedo" ("Yes, I Can") campaign was launched with the participation and advice of the Governments of Cuba and Venezuela. In October 2006, in a second phase of "Yo sí puedo," literacy teaching began in the local languages, Aymara and Quechua, in rural and urban areas. After 33 months of campaigning, the initiative succeeded in teaching some 827,000 people to read and write, reducing the illiteracy rate to around 3.7 %, a figure sufficient to declare the country free of illiteracy in 2008. In 2010 the Plurinational Legislative Assembly approved the Avelino Siñani-Elizardo Pérez Education Law, which establishes the right to receive education at all levels free of charge, on a secular, comprehensive and intercultural basis.

In 2006 the Vice Ministry of Science and Technology was created, responsible for designing science and technology policies, promoting the execution of projects and coordinating the operation of research institutes and centers. In 2009 the vice minister published the Sectoral Plan for Science and Technology. In February 2010 the Bolivian Space Agency (ABE) was created with the main purpose of managing the Túpac Katari satellite, built by the Chinese company China Great Wall Industry Corporation.

Human and personal rights policy

Evo Morales at the 5th Continental Congress of the Latin American Coordinator of Rural Organizations.

The Bolivian Constitution approved in 2009 represents a modernization of the Magna Carta with regard to civil rights. One of the most important advances is the recognition of indigenous peoples as collective subjects, incorporating their community structures into the organization of the State. Their rights to health and education, with respect for their own cultures, are also taken into account.

Gender and diversity

The 2009 Constitution is one of the first in the world to expressly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, same-sex marriage remains illegal. In 2010, Parliament approved the Law against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, which prohibits, among other things, discrimination against homosexual people by companies or individuals and allows for possible convictions.

In 2016, a law allowed transgender people to change the name and sex shown on their identity documents, after consulting a physician, without first having to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The proportion of women union leaders, ministers and parliamentarians has increased considerably. In 2017, Bolivia was the country with the second-highest proportion of women in its parliament (52 % in the National Assembly, 47 % in the Senate).

Religion and freedom of worship

Morales identifies himself as a grassroots Christian and also practices the worship of Mother Earth, or Pachamama. Before the start of his term, the Catholic Church played a central role as mediator in political and social conflict, a political role that Evo Morales has questioned. He has frequently reproached the Catholic Church for its relationship with the colonization and for having accompanied with the cross "the domination and subjugation" of the Indians of the continent during the Spanish conquest; he accuses the ecclesiastical hierarchy of interfering in political debate and considers that "the secular State is the best guarantee of religious democracy".

In 2006 Evo Morales defended the possibility of students in schools being able to choose which religion or faith to study, breaking the supremacy of Catholicism in the country, which led to one of his first disputes as head of state with the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In 2009 the Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia was promulgated, under which Catholicism ceased to be the country's official religion, declaring that the State is "independent of religion" and guaranteeing the freedom of all beliefs.

Environmental policy

One of the dilemmas faced by the Morales administration lay in the desire to expand extractive industries to obtain resources to finance social programs and job creation, on the one hand, and on the other to protect the environment from the pollution caused by these industries. Although the government professes an environmentalist ethos, expanding environmental monitoring and becoming a leader in the voluntary Forest Stewardship Council, Bolivia continues to witness rapid deforestation for agriculture and illegal logging.

Morales's speeches commonly make reference to Mother Earth and criticize the harm that industrialized nations have inflicted on the environment. In April 2011 he asked the UN to grant the rights of Mother Earth the same status and importance that it grants to human rights.

In 2010 the environmental policy of the Morales government was criticized by Time magazine and the British newspaper The Guardian, and by a sector of the Bolivian population because of the case of the TIPNIS (Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park). This is an area of great natural beauty and a protected area, in the center of Bolivia, where Morales planned to build a road that would affect the environment and, according to analysts, would harm an indigenous tribe living in the region.

When journalist Amy Goodman, of the radio program Democracy Now!, asked him in April 2010 about the dangers of driving the Bolivian economy on hydrocarbons, a potentially polluting activity, Morales replied: "Those foundations, NGOs, said: 'Amazonia without oil.' So let them tell me that I am going to cap oil wells, gas wells. Then what is Bolivia going to live on? Let's be realistic."

In August 2010 the central region of Bolivia suffered a wave of forest fires caused by "chaqueo" (the practice, deeply rooted among indigenous people, of burning vegetation in order to obtain land for agriculture). In response to requests from numerous NGOs to end this practice, Morales defended the intentional fires, arguing that they were a traditional indigenous practice and that the true culprits of the forest fires in Bolivia were the developed countries. Morales authorized, by decree, the cultivation of genetically modified soybeans.

TIPNIS protests and police repression

Protests against the construction of a road through the middle of the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory

Main article: 2011 TIPNIS protests in Bolivia

Although Morales always said that he respected the will of the indigenous peoples and that he consulted them on any initiative that might affect them, in June 2011, in a speech in the city of Sacaba, referring to the indigenous tribe that would be affected by the construction of the road, Morales told them: "Whether you like it or not, we are going to build the road."

Fires in the Chiquitania and the Bolivian Amazon

Situation of the fire on September 1 in Charagua.

In 2019, President Evo Morales legalized land clearing through Law 741, which authorizes clearing for the purpose of expanding the agricultural frontier, and Supreme Decree 3973, which authorizes controlled burning. A month later devastating fires broke out in the Chiquitania region (Department of Santa Cruz). In August 2019, President Morales flatly refused international assistance to put out the fires in the Chiquitania.

Volunteer firefighters and local authorities discovered that the areas affected by the fire were being distributed among migrant peasants sympathetic to the government. Other complaints were also filed by the volunteers upon seeing that community members were setting fires again in areas that had been brought under control, stating that they had express authorization from the government to carry out these tasks. According to the Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN), by the end of September 2019 the Chiquitania had lost 39,000 km², representing 73 % of its lands.

Communications and media policy

On July 10, 2011, the Bolivian Congress, where Evo Morales's party has a large majority, approved the Law on Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technologies. The new legislation grants 33 % of licenses to the State, 17 % to community organizations, 17 % to indigenous organizations and the remaining 33 % to the private sector. The new law also authorizes wiretapping in cases of national crisis. In response to the law, numerous mass media outlets have expressed great concern over what they describe as a maneuver by Morales to "monopolize the media."

In September 2018, after the referendum on reelection, members of the ruling party maintained that there had been a campaign based on fake news on social media aimed at harming Morales. A MAS assembly member proposed a regulation that would impose sanctions on those who spread false news.

Defense and security policy

The National Development Plan 2006–2010 made a negative assessment of Bolivia's civil security and national defense system, which the Morales government proposed to reverse through a plan that involved establishing a new regulatory framework, redesigning the force system and strengthening operational capabilities.

At the beginning of his term he announced his intention to bring his predecessor, Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, and the then Minister of Defense, Gonzalo Méndez Gutiérrez, before the courts, accusing them of treason against the Homeland for having transferred 28 Chinese-made MHN-5 surface-to-air missiles, which were in the Bolivian arsenals, to the United States to be "deactivated."

The Armed Forces were redesigned, creating seven Joint Commands that divide the national territory into geostrategic areas. In addition, the Armed Forces took part in social tasks such as literacy plans, the distribution of social programs, the construction and maintenance of infrastructure in rural areas and support for health campaigns. Programs for equipping the Armed Forces and acquiring materiel for them were promoted. In addition, the Bolivian Ammunition Factory resumed operations. The Armed Forces budget grew by 100 % between 2005 and 2014, rising from 1,176 million bolivianos to 2,177 million.

Foreign policy

Main article: Foreign policy of Bolivia

Evo Morales in 2006 with his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva.

Morales initially declared his support for the policies of Latin American presidents such as Fidel Castro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and especially Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. As president-elect, but before taking office as Bolivian head of state, Morales made a tour of various countries that drew great media attention. Starting on December 30 and over fifteen days he visited Cuba, Venezuela, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, China, South Africa and Brazil to meet with various heads of state, officials and public figures, seeking political and economic support for his plans to transform the Bolivian economy. Before setting off for Europe he received the support of his Cuban and Venezuelan counterparts, Castro and Chávez, with whom he signed cooperation agreements that included the entry into Bolivia of Cuban doctors and qualified Venezuelan oil personnel.

Morales vehemently criticized the free trade agreements signed by the governments of Peru and Colombia with the United States, and supported the government of Venezuela in its withdrawal from the Andean Community. In May 2006 Morales attended the Latin America–European Union summit of heads of state, where he sought support to remove the coca leaf from the "illicit" category, insisting that it should not be confused with cocaine, and also to further strengthen his country's international presence.

Regarding the Arab–Israeli conflict, the position of the Evo Morales Government, a product of the confrontation that it and other governments of similar tendencies maintain with the United States, is one of practically unrestricted support for the various Arab or Muslim governments of the region in their conflicts with Israel—a strategic ally of the United States in the region—going so far as to describe the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was heavily questioned over the human rights situation in his country, as a "revolutionary comrade and brother."

Conflicts

Recall referendum

On August 10, 2008, Morales was subjected to a recall referendum together with eight state prefects and was ratified in office after obtaining 67 % of the votes (see 2008 Bolivian recall referendum).

Alleged attempt on his life

Main article: Hotel Las Américas raid

On April 16, 2009, the government announced that it had foiled a plot to assassinate the President, hatched by a far-right cell based in the eastern city of Santa Cruz. That day, a Bolivian army commando group entered the Hotel Las Américas and, according to the government's account, a shootout took place with the terrorists, in which Eduardo Rosza Flores (a dual Bolivian-Hungarian national), Michael Dwyer (Irish) and Arpad Magyarosi (Romanian) were killed, while Elod Toaso (Hungarian) and Mario Tadic (Croatian) were captured.

Over time numerous doubts about the official version have arisen, which official bodies have attributed to those implicated themselves, accusing them of deliberately delaying and stalling the proceedings, since more than 200 motions were filed by the defense of the accused. However, when Michael Dwyer's body was repatriated to Ireland, his relatives requested an autopsy. The forensic pathologist appointed by the government of Ireland, Marie Cassidy, after examining the body, concluded that Dwyer died from a gunshot to the heart, and that at the moment of the shot he was lying down or kneeling, from which it could be concluded that he was executed. The Bolivian courts have already sentenced some of those implicated in this case, who submitted to an abbreviated trial, accepting the charges.

Detention in Vienna

Main article: 2013 diplomatic conflict between South America and Europe

On July 2, 2013, his presidential plane was forced to land in Austria because the authorities wanted to search it to verify whether it was carrying Edward Snowden from Russia. Snowden was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the U.S. authorities for having revealed details of the PRISM global surveillance program. After 13 hours, during which they found no one, he was allowed to continue.

Most of the presidents of Latin American countries repudiated the incident, which, they said, "violates international law." UNASUR issued a statement expressing its solidarity with the Bolivian government and its "indignation and profound rejection" of the incident, also demanding that it be clarified. Likewise, an emergency meeting of UNASUR was convened for July 4 in Cochabamba.

Controversy over second reelection

The Constitution enacted in 2009 establishes a limit of two terms for the office of President, so Morales's term ending in January 2015 should have been his last. However, in April 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that President Evo Morales's first term did not count under the constitutional term limits, since the Magna Carta had been reformed. Morales's candidacy was made official at the Seventh General Congress of the MAS in October 2013.

Referendum on third reelection

On February 21, 2016, a referendum was held to amend Article 168 of the Political Constitution of the State, which allows only one reelection of a President and Vice President, with the options "Yes" and "No": the results favored "No," so no such amendment took place. That day is known as 21F.

A few days before the referendum was held, Bolivian journalist Carlos Valverde accused Evo Morales of influence peddling. According to Evo Morales and his followers, that accusation influenced the results of 21F, for which reason they considered the results manipulated, calling February 21 "21F, the day of the lie."

On September 19, Assembly members of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) filed an abstract action of unconstitutionality, arguing that the limits on a possible new candidacy conflict with the Pact of San José, Costa Rica. Some 30 social organizations joined the initiative. On November 28, 2017, the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP), by unanimous decision, cleared Evo Morales and Álvaro García Linera to run again in the following national elections (of 2019), based on the prevalence of international conventions over the Political Constitution of the State. The measure includes governors, mayors, assembly members and councilors.

Accusation of and protests over alleged electoral fraud

Main articles: 2019 Bolivian general election and 2019 Bolivian protests

Demonstrations in La Paz against the electoral fraud and the government of Evo Morales.

On October 20, 2019, the first round of voting for all government offices was held. In a climate of normality, the two established counts showed that Morales was leading by less than 10 percentage points (which would have led to a runoff) until 7:40 p.m. local time. At that moment the updates stopped. At 9:25 p.m., with no updates, President Morales declared himself the winner, which raised suspicions among all the international bodies acting as observers, especially the Organization of American States (OAS), so an audit was requested, which began on October 31, carried out by the OAS and observed by Spain, Mexico and Paraguay.

The Bolivian opposition published a report with irregularities such as erroneous additions in tally sheets, swapping of data, and tally sheets with more votes than registered voters. As popular unrest grew, various acts of harassment began in front of the former Radisson hotel in La Paz, which even affected members of the Ombudsman's Office when they came to mediate. Even the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB), the country's largest union organization and an ally of the Government, asked Morales to "resign, if necessary" to pacify the country.

Helicopter crash

On Monday, November 4, 2019, at 12:48 local time, the EC-145 helicopter carrying Evo Morales from Colquiri to Oruro suffered a mishap that the Bolivian Air Force attributed to a mechanical failure. The pilot had to perform an emergency landing attributed to a tail rotor failure. Once in asylum in Mexico, Morales attributed responsibility for this mishap to Commander Jorge Terceros. Morales had traveled to inaugurate a road linking Caracollo with Colquiri, in the south of the country. On November 23, the Bolivian Air Force rejected Morales's version.

Resignation and offer of asylum

Main article: 2019 Bolivian political crisis

On November 10, 2019, after the publication of a critical report by the OAS on the elections, Evo Morales announced the renewal of the members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the calling of new national elections.

In a context of protests, social pressure and accusations of fraud in the general elections of October 20, the Bolivian Armed Forces and the police suggested that he resign the presidency.

The head of the Army, Williams Kaliman, had called for his resignation hours earlier:

After analyzing the internal conflict situation, we suggest that the President of the State resign his presidential mandate, allowing for pacification and the maintenance of stability for the good of our Bolivia.

— Williams Kalimán, head of the Army

On that Sunday, November 10, Evo Morales announced his resignation from the office of President of Bolivia.

We are resigning so that our humble brothers stop being kicked, so that poor families, humiliated... We do not want there to be confrontations. We have decided to renounce our victory so that there can be elections, all for Bolivia, all for the Homeland.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announce the arrival of Evo Morales in Mexico on political asylum.

That same day, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard offered Morales political asylum "in accordance with its tradition of asylum and non-intervention."

For me it is a coup d'état, plain and simple, there's no need to beat around the bush, because there is an ultimatum from the army and the police are confined to barracks, and that's that; and what is that called? Then saying that the cause was eventually the fraud, and this and that, how can it be proven if a number of polling tables had been burned? And second, what sense does it make if, when a new electoral event was announced, the coup machinery did not stop? What does the repression carried out against homes and relatives, in plain view of and with the consent of the armed bodies of Bolivia, have to do with it? It is evident that there is a coup d'état.

— Pepe Mujica (former President of Uruguay), November 15, 2019

After Alberto Fernández took office as President of Argentina on December 10, 2019, speculation began about Morales moving to that country. This materialized on December 13, 2019, when Morales arrived in the country, where he remained as a political refugee, until November 11, 2020, one day after the new constitutional president of Bolivia took office.

On October 2, 2024, his political refugee status in Argentina was officially revoked, the measure being announced on X by the Argentine presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni and backed by the Minister of Justice Mariano Cúneo-Libarona, who said: "We revoked the refugee status granted to the would-be socialist dictator Evo Morales. This Government will in no way use the resources of Argentines to protect criminals, terrorists or authoritarians."

Sports career

As a player

Morales made his official debut as a footballer with Club Social y Deportivo Litoral, in the first matchday of the La Paz Football Association tournament, on April 26, 2008, against Municipal, a 4–1 victory for his team; Morales played 37 minutes of the match.

Sports executive

Evo Morales assumed the presidency of Club Atlético Palmaflor on January 19, 2023, after the team was purchased by the six federations of coca growers.

Controversies

Conflict with the Catholic Church

According to reports by Catholic press outlets, President Morales has spoken openly against the Bolivian ecclesiastical hierarchy in public speeches:

The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said … in the context of the World Social Forum that the Catholic Church in Bolivia is the "main enemy" of the reforms his government wants to implement in his country, and said that it was necessary to replace it

The Bolivian President's attack on the Church adds to another he made … in La Paz before the foreign press, when he accused the Church of trying to prevent the victory of the Yes vote on the draft Constitution, which was approved in the referendum held.

In commemoration of the bicentennial of the independence of La Paz … President Evo Morales harshly criticized the Catholic Church, accusing the "hierarchs of the Church" of being "instruments of the empire."

Morales has publicly declared himself a "grassroots Catholic" noting that his disagreement is only with the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Bolivia. Morales is also criticized by secularist sectors who accuse him of "having replaced the Catholic Church with Pachamamism" to the detriment of the secularism advocated by the Constitution of Bolivia.

One of the tensest moments took place in 2008, when Cardinal Julio Terrazas publicly supported an autonomist rebellion of the country's wealthiest departments, then led by the right-wing opposition. In May 2010 he met with Benedict XVI in Vatican City. In the press conference afterward he called for the democratization of the Church's structures, asking the Pope to abolish celibacy and to approve women's access to the priesthood.

Since the arrival of Pope Francis, Morales has on several occasions expressed personal admiration for him, and the Pope in turn privately mentioned the admiration he feels for the Bolivian leader in 2013, on the occasion of the Mass that gathered more than three million people in Rio de Janeiro.

In July 2015 the Pope visited Bolivia. Among his messages, he asked forgiveness for the crimes against indigenous people during the conquest.

"I have enormous agreement on capitalism, on Mother Earth, on Social Justice. That is why, from the moment I met him in Brazil two years ago, I said: 'now I really have a pope'"

Evo Morales declared in April 2016 when he met him, this time at the Vatican. During this visit Morales gave Pope Francis a "communist crucifix" hand-carved by the Jesuit priest Luis Espinal, murdered in 1980 in Bolivia.

Allegations of political persecution

Evo Morales during a press conference in Mexico City during his exile in that country.

Opposition figures facing judicial proceedings, mostly related to corruption, have on various occasions claimed to have been the object of what they have described as "political persecution" by the government. The government asserts that all the proceedings are grounded in the corresponding legal frameworks and carried out by the relevant institutions, describing these claims by the opposition as false.

Evo Morales revealed in 2018 that on one occasion he ordered the two-day arrest of members of the band of the Sergeants' School of Cochabamba, because they played the "diana" (a celebratory tune) when their commander scored a goal but not when he did.

Media controversies

In July 2012 the Brazilian magazine Veja, in the report "Bolivia, republic of cocaine," alleged a direct connection between the Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramón Quintana and former Miss Bolivia Jessica Jordan and a Brazilian trafficker jailed for drug trafficking, citing the document Apreensão de Fugitivo Internacional signed under the pseudonym Carlos. The article denounced the presence of drug traffickers in Bolivia and questioned the degree of Evo Morales's knowledge of the situation, pointing to United Nations data on surplus coca cultivation in Bolivia. In another report in September 2013, the Bolivian ambassador to Brazil, Jerjes Justiniano, was identified as the representative of drug trafficking in that country. In October 2013 the Bolivian government requested a correction through a notarized letter. In 2015 the same magazine published a new report linking Morales's inner circle to alleged connections with drug trafficking.

In 2013, in an interview on CNN en Español conducted in Bolivia by the Cuban journalist residing in the United States Ismael Cala, Morales claimed that he was systematically humiliated and misrepresented by the American media and accused the journalist of representing the capitalist system and not the peoples, creating a moment of particular tension in the broadcast. Days later, Ismael Cala commented on the program Oppenheimer presenta on CNN, where he had been invited to present a book about his story, that he felt very offended by the leader's attitude, adding that he always has to deal with difficult people.

The media have highlighted and amplified some mistakes made by Evo Morales in his speeches, among them the claim that the indigenous peoples of the Altiplano plateau had fought against the Roman Empire, or about the female hormones in chicken and how eating chicken could lead to deviations.

Attire

Usual attire with indigenous motifs worn at the presidential inauguration ceremony.

His break with protocol in his attire sparked debate at the beginning of his term. At his swearing-in as President in 2006 he broke with long-standing protocol and customs by wearing a jacket with Andean motifs, without lapels and without the "traditional tie."

A gesture particularly commented on by the media was his wearing of the chompa (sweater) at his meeting with King Juan Carlos, with the President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with business leaders and with specialists in international politics during his visit to Spain in January 2006.

The simplicity of the garment was interpreted by some as a sign of ignorance of protocol and by others as a gesture consistent with the leader's personality; the use of the garment produced signs of sympathy in various sectors. The BBC published a report on the use of chompas made of alpaca wool at official events titled: "the new fashion: Evo's sweater."

Gabriela Zapata case

Following a complaint of influence peddling, in April 2016 Evo Morales underwent a DNA test to verify whether or not he was the father of a son with his former partner Gabriela Zapata (Zapata case). The courts determined that the child never existed, and a child trafficking case was opened that convicted associates of the President's former partner; Zapata ultimately retracted her claims and accused opposition politicians of using her to discredit Evo Morales.

2020 statutory rape complaint

In August 2020, Morales was reported by the Vice Ministry of Transparency of the Áñez government, after it received an anonymous complaint concerning a young woman who had a "romantic relationship with Juan Evo Morales Ayma and allegedly became pregnant when she was 15 years and five months old." Then-President Áñez stated that "these are two cases of pedophilia and they shame the country." With the MAS's return to power in November 2020, the case did not move forward.

Persona non grata and subsequent ban on entering Peru

In November 2021, the Foreign Relations Committee of the Congress of Peru declared Evo Morales a persona non grata for "his negative political activism in Peru." In the recitals of a statement by the committee, it was set out that since July of that year Evo Morales had held proselytizing meetings in Peru and that he "makes ungracious statements that reveal a political agenda in line with foreign interests." Morales responded to the declaration by saying that the people who approved the measure should "not be part of racism." In January 2023, the Peruvian government announced a ban on entry into the country for nine Bolivian citizens, among them Morales, for their repeated "interference in the social protests" taking place in Peru.

Return from exile

After almost a year in exile, Evo Morales returned to Bolivia together with Álvaro García Linera on November 9, 2020, entering through Villazón from La Quiaca (Argentina), accompanied by the Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who bid him farewell at the border. They made a 1,200-kilometer journey, which began in Villazón and then passed through various towns of Potosí, Oruro and Cochabamba; they went through his native village of Orinoca, accompanied by a caravan of approximately 800 vehicles, until finally arriving in Chimoré on November 11, 2020, the same day he had left the country.

On December 15 of that year, Morales took part in a MAS meeting to nominate a candidate for governor of Santa Cruz. Although Morales initially supported the former mayor of Warnes, Mario Cronenbold, he withdrew his support when Cronenbold made statements in favor of not prosecuting Luis Fernando Camacho, an activist who stood out in the political crisis that led to his resignation as President. Instead, he backed the former Minister of Government Carlos Romero as candidate for governor. The announcement was rejected by those attending the meeting, who shouted demands for renewal. The discontent finally resulted in a person throwing a plastic chair at Morales in what was dubbed the "sillazo" (chair attack).

Disqualification from reelection

In December 2023, the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP) of Bolivia annulled the possibility of indefinite reelection, which means that Morales can no longer aspire to be President again.

In popular culture

Tributes

In tribute to Morales, a town in Bolivia (on the border with Brazil) adopted his name: Puerto Evo Morales.

Literature

In the postmodern novel United States of Banana (2011) written by the Puerto Rican novelist Giannina Braschi (1953–), Evo Morales and Hugo Chávez are heroic characters who help the Puerto Rican people free themselves from the United States.

Evadas

Alfredo Rodríguez published the book Evadas, which collects phrases, some of them absurd, attributed to Evo Morales.

Awards and honors

Since his rise to the presidency in 2006, Morales has been distinguished with various awards and honors. Various institutions of higher learning around the world have granted him honorary doctorates (Honoris Causa): Hansei University, the National University of La Plata, the National University of Entre Ríos, the National University of Comahue, the National University of San Juan, the National University of Salta, the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia and the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. At the national level he also received distinctions from the Public University of El Alto, the Siglo XX National University, and the Universidad del Valle.

Morales has received decorations from various states, such as the collar of the Order of the Liberator granted by Venezuela in 2006, the Decoration of the Order of the Golden Fifth Sun awarded by Guatemala, the Medal of Honor of the Peruvian Congress, the gold medal of the President of the Italian Republic, awarded by the Pio Manzù Center, World Hero of Mother Earth of the UN, and the indigenous peoples of the Venezuelan state of Zulia decorated him with the order "Gran Cacique Yaurepara." In his own country, oil workers presented him with the "Gold Insignia" for the nationalization of hydrocarbons.

See also

• Government of Evo Morales
• List of presidents of Bolivia
• Álvaro García Linera
• Eugenio Rojas
• 2019 Bolivian protests

External links

• Biography of Evo Morales by CIDOB (in Spanish)
• Filmus, "Evo Morales" in Presidentes (in Spanish)