LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia’s interim President Jeanine Anez said on Friday that ousted former President Evo Morales is free to return, but would have to respond to allegations of electoral fraud and would not be immune from investigation.
Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez speaks to the media at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Anez said she was in talks with lawmakers from Morales’ party in an effort to resolve the country’s democratic crisis and indicated new elections were likely, though she gave few details.
She did say, however, that Morales would not be welcome in any new election.
Morales, who led Bolivia since 2006, resigned under pressure on Sunday after weeks of protests and violence following an Oct. 20 election that awarded him an outright win but was tarnished by widespread allegations of fraud.
“Nobody has thrown him out, but yes, there’s a need for him to respond regarding electoral fraud, in addition to many allegations of corruption,” Anez told reporters at the presidential palace.
The South American country’s interim government and lawmakers from Morales’ party appeared to have reached an accord late on Thursday to work toward a new presidential election, potentially helping resolve the country’s political crisis.
“The negotiations continue, many of those are people committed to the country and express the desire to jointly carry out this process,” Anez said, though she hinted that talks with Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) were not all easy.
Morales’ departure, after what he slammed as a “right-wing coup,” left a political vacuum and sparked backlash from his supporters and global allies.
Anez has pledged to call elections soon but has not given a date. She said on Friday that her government was only “transitional.”
The Legislative Assembly needs to form an electoral board, which would then announce new elections.
Morales, a charismatic leftist and the country’s first indigenous president, flew earlier this week with his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, to Mexico, where they were granted asylum.
At least 10 people have been killed in the protests since last month’s vote, the public prosecutor’s office said, mostly by firearms.
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Karen Longaric told reporters he had met with the ambassador of Mexico to express dissatisfaction with the high-profile reception Morales was given, which he said broke asylum rules.
He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Morales’ government, had decided to withdraw over 700 Cuban citizens, including doctors and technicians, from Bolivia and that Cuban aircraft would start arriving later in the day to withdraw their citizens from the eastern lowland city of Santa Cruz.
Reporting by Danny Ramos; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Dan Grebler
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