By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Former President of Bolivia, Evo Morales said an attempt to kill him on Sunday failed, claiming that gunmen fired a hail of bullets at his car, on his way to a radio station for an interview in the central city of Cochabamba.
“The car in which I arrived has 14 bullet holes,” said Morales, adding: “This was planned. The idea was to kill Evo.”
Morales blamed the incumbent President Luis Arce, a former ally and cabinet minister for the attack. The duo had fallen apart.
The radio station that hosted the interview, Kawsachun Coca, released a video that it said was of the bullet-ridden pickup truck that Morales had been in.
The windshield had three bullet holes and the driver had blood on his head.
“Lucho has destroyed Bolivia and now he wants to eliminate our process by killing Evo,” Morales, using the president’s nickname, referring to his own attempt to regain the presidency.
Morales, 65, served as President from 2006 until 2019. He was highly popular in the Andean country until he tried to bypass the constitution to seek a fourth term.
He was forced to resign after losing the support of the military following an election marked by allegations of fraud, and fled to Mexico.
Morales returned to Bolivia in 2020 seeking political resurrection.
He and and the incumbent President Arce are seeking the presidential ticket of the ruling MAS party in the August 2025 elections.
Morales is legally barred from running again after completing his constitutional tenure.
Morales is being investigated for rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old member of his political youth guard in 2015.
President Arce overhauled the military leadership Saturday as part of what he called a drive to restore order.
