New Bolivian interior minister vows to jail Evo Morales for rest of his life

[Judi Lynn]

Rightwing government claims former president is guilty of terrorism and sedition

Tom Phillips in La Paz

Sun 24 Nov 2019 07.56 EST

The interior minister of Bolivia’s rightwing interim government has vowed to jail the former president Evo Morales for the rest of his life, accusing the exiled leftist of inciting anti-government protests that he claimed amounted to terrorism.

In an interview with the Guardian, Arturo Murillo claimed Morales had been orchestrating efforts to “strangle” Bolivian cities by ordering followers to erect roadblocks that would starve its residents of fuel and food.

Murillo claimed that an audio recording – which supposedly shows Morales giving such instructions – was definitive proof of the alleged crime and said he was “200%” certain it was genuine.

. . .

With Morales thousands of miles away, Bolivia’s new governors have launched a propaganda campaign aimed at annihilating the leftist’s reputation and legacy. Adverts on Bolivian television depict the country’s first indigenous leader as a chaos-sowing provocateur who has brought turmoil to its streets.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/bolivia-evo-morales-vow-jail-rest-life-arturo-murillo

Also posted in LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142399995

[Judi Lynn]

1. Now it becomes clear why the bogus Interior Minister is claiming he'll arrest Evo Morales

if he returns to Bolivia. Article published yesterday in the Guardian:

‘Bring him back’: Morales loyalists block Bolivia’s roads to pile on pressure
Tom Phillips
Sat 23 Nov 2019 17.59 EST

Followers of the exiled ex-president hope their blockade of food and fuel will bring concessions from the new rightwing government



The barricades blocking the road to Alto Lipari are fashioned from every conceivable object: telegraph poles and tree trunks, wheelie bins and wooden crates, a bed frame and even a shipping container daubed with insults aimed at Bolivia’s “sell-out” police. Their message is unambiguous. “Evo de nuevo” reads a demand written on to the ground at the blockaded entrance to this rural farming community an hour’s drive south of La Paz. “Bring Evo back.”

A 20-minute hike further on, a group of Evo Morales loyalists, armed with sticks of dynamite used to deter unwanted visitors, keep watch from a mountainside observation point.

“We are organised, and if they bother us we will respond – nothing more,” said Javier Mamani, 52.

Nearly two weeks after Bolivia’s first indigenous president was forced from power, his followers are mobilising in places such as this arid, high-altitude settlement in a bid to pile pressure on the country’s new rightwing government. Their plan – which many believe has been plotted by Morales from exile in Mexico – involves using hundreds of roadblocks to prevent fuel and food reaching Bolivia’s de facto capital and thus force concessions – perhaps even Morales’s return.

. . .

“If they don’t comply [with our demands], not a single product will reach the city of La Paz. I’m really sorry but this is the decision,” said Martin Cornejo, a local organiser in the tomato and cucumber growing region called Río Abajo that includes Alto Lipari. “The people will not rest until Evo Morales Ayma returns.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/23/bolivia--slides-into-chaos-mountain-barricades-city-protests-morales

The fascist coup peeps are claiming that if the people's President does return, then they'll get rid of him, and the people will lose everything they've worked for. He's doing this to confirm the illegal coup, nothing other.