Bolivia orders arrest of former president Evo Morales on terrorism and armed uprising charges

Arrest warrant issued

On 29 July, Bolivia's attorney general Roger Mariaca announced an arrest warrant for former president Evo Morales. The Santa Cruz district prosecutor's office is investigating him for "armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the state, terrorism and attacks on the safety of means of transport," according to a document cited by Bolivian media. The charges also include criminal association, public incitement to crime and attacks on public services. The warrant was triggered by a complaint filed in early July by the civic group Comité pro Santa Cruz, which the Interior Ministry later joined.

Seven weeks of road blockades

From May to June 2026, farmers, unions, indigenous organisations and coca producers blocked major highways across Bolivia for more than 50 days. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, blaming his conservative government for the country's worst economic crisis in four decades. The blockades caused severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and oxygen in cities including La Paz and El Alto. At least 16 people died, 13 of them because ambulances could not reach hospitals in time, according to one report; the national ombudsman's office put the toll at 22 dead and 88 injured. Economic losses exceeded $3 billion. The protests ended in mid-June after Paz reached an agreement with the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) and declared a 90-day state of exception, deploying police and military to clear the roads.

“They will not intimidate us. We will continue to fight alongside the people, as we have always done, with the conviction that Bolivia deserves a different path: one of dignity, sovereignty, social justice and the recovery of hope for all.”

Morales defiant from his Chapare stronghold

Morales, 66, has been holed up in the rural Chapare region since a 2024 arrest warrant accused him of trafficking a minor, allegations he denies. On social media, he called the new charges politically motivated, aimed at concealing "a deep economic and social crisis, the result of a model that has abandoned the people and protects corruption." He insisted he did not call for Paz's resignation, though on 24 May he posted that the president had only "two paths": militarise the country or call elections within 90 days. Morales was declared in contempt of court on 11 May after failing to appear for a hearing in the trafficking case, and a renewed arrest warrant was issued at that time.

A country in recession

Bolivia's economy is projected by the IMF to contract by 3.3% in 2026. President Paz, who took office in November 2025, has pursued austerity measures and closer ties with the United States, ending nearly two decades of socialist rule under Morales and his successor Luis Arce. During the protests, the US and members of the Shield of the Americas bloc, including Argentina, Chile and El Salvador, denounced what they called efforts to overthrow Paz.

What happens next

The arrest warrant orders police to detain Morales and bring him to the anti-corruption unit. Two other union leaders, Mario Argollo of the COB and peasant leader Vicente Salazar, are also named in the complaint; Salazar is already in preventive detention. Morales has refused to appear in court for the earlier trafficking case, and his supporters have threatened to "throw the country into turmoil" if he is arrested.