By Daniel Ramos and Monica Machicao
Bolivia’s Evo Morales said on Sunday his vehicle was hit by gunfire captured in a video, reflecting how political tensions have turned violent in the Andean nation between the former leader and his former ally President Luis Arce.
Morales posted a video on Facebook taken from inside a moving car, showing him sitting in the front passenger seat and at least two bullet holes in the windshield. The driver appeared to have been injured. Morales wrote that the government was to blame.
Reuters could not independently verify the contents of the video or Morales’ claim.
The incident and claims could spark further unrest and instability in the South American nation, at a time of already high tensions with Morales supporters blocking key highways and clashing with security forces trying to clear them.
In a radio interview after the incident, Morales said two vehicles intercepted him on the road and fired upon his car, claiming a bullet passed “centimeters” from his head. “I don’t know if they were soldiers or police,” Morales said.
Deputy Security Minister Roberto Rios told journalists that police had not carried out any operation against the former president.
“As authorities in charge of state security, we are obliged to investigate any report, whether it is true or false,” Rios said.
On Saturday, the government had criticized Morales for “destabilizing” the country with two weeks of road blockades that have jammed up supplies of food and fuel around the country. It accused him of trying to “interrupt democratic order”.
The government in a statement also said some groups allied to Morales were armed and warned about violence, citing 14 police officers wounded trying to break up the blockades.
Morales and Arce, his former economy minister, are both part of the same socialist MAS political party, but have clashed increasingly over the last year, part of a power struggle ahead of 2025 elections.
The country is also grappling with dwindling gas production, drained foreign currency reserves and rising inflation, which is heaping pressure on the ruling party and leading to increasingly messy political infighting.
Morales is also facing allegations that he had relationships with minors. He was formally summoned by regional prosecutors to testify in the case but did not appear, and now faces an arrest warrant. Morales strongly denies the accusations.
