Bolivian judge orders the arrest of former President Morales in sex abuse case

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A Bolivian judge on Friday issued a warrant for the arrest of former President Evo Morales after he failed to appear in court over a case alleging that he sexually abused a minor.

Morales, 65, is alleged to have had a child with a teenage girl in 2016 — a sexual relationship that would have constituted statutory rape under Bolivian law.

“There has been a warrant ordered for his search and arrest,” said Judge Nelson Rocabado after a hearing in the southern region of Tarija, where the alleged victim lives.

Morales has denied the allegations. He claimed he was a “victim” to legal warfare carried out by his ally-turned-political-rival President Luis Arce and refused to appear in court. In December, the Bolivian prosecutor's office also ordered Morales' detention, but Friday's order added extra weight on top of mounting calls for the ex-president's arrest.

The populist leader has barricaded himself in his fiefdom in Chapare, in central Bolivia, and lives in the headquarters of the coca growers’ unions protected by up to three security cordons to avoid his arrest.

Outside the courthouse on Friday a group of women who identified themselves as mothers carried banners that read “Evo Morales abuser, girls are not to be touched."

The prosecutor handling the case, Sandra Gutiérrez, said they would now investigate if the president had committed a crime by not appearing in court.

The case emerged last year in the heart of a fierce political grappling between Morales and the country's leader, Arce, for control of Bolivia's ruling party ahead of August presidential elections. Neither Morales nor Arce immediately commented on Friday's order.

Morales' defense argued that the former leader was sick with bronchopneumonia as a justification for his no shows, and on Friday they further alleged he suffered from heart conditions. However, the judge dismissed those claims, saying the ailments were treatable.

Morales, who enjoys strong support from many Indigenous and rural populations in Bolivia, continued to be backed by leaders like Isidro Vaca, who said the former president was in hiding because he believes he would not receive justice under the current government.

“We have to take care of him, we are not going to allow (him to be arrested). We will stand by his side 24 hours a day,” Vaca said.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders and government officials continue to criticize Morales’ stance of not attending his hearings.

“He should take a paternity test if he is innocent,” said Roberto Ríos, Bolivia's deputy minister of public safety.

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