Former Bolivian president Evo Morales claimed that he was targeted in an assassination attempt on Sunday, blaming the current government for the attack. Morales reported that masked gunmen fired on his vehicle, injuring his driver as he was on his way to a radio interview in Cochabamba.
“The car in which I arrived has 14 bullet holes,” Morales stated, adding, “This was planned. The idea was to kill Evo.”
The Kawsachun Coca radio station, where Morales was set to appear, shared video footage showing a pickup truck with bullet-riddled windows, including a bloodied driver’s seat. Morales pointed fingers at President Luis Arce, a former ally turned rival, accusing him of orchestrating the attack to thwart Morales’s political resurgence.
“Lucho has destroyed Bolivia, and now he wants to eliminate our process by killing Evo,” Morales asserted, referring to Arce by his nickname. Fortunately, Morales was unharmed in the attack.
In response, Morales lodged a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that government agents attempted to assassinate him. President Arce, meanwhile, called for an immediate and thorough investigation to clarify the facts, condemning any violence in politics.
Deputy Security Minister Roberto Rios suggested that Morales’s camp may have staged the incident, calling it a potential self-attack. The ambush reportedly occurred outside a military base, with gunmen dressed in black targeting Morales’s vehicle.
Morales, a former coca farmer and Bolivia’s president from 2006 to 2019, rose to popularity before his controversial attempt to run for a fourth term, which prompted his resignation and exile. He returned to Bolivia in 2020, seeking a political comeback.
Both Morales and Arce are vying for the MAS party’s nomination in the August 2025 elections, although Morales is legally barred from candidacy. The former president is also under investigation over alleged misconduct dating back to 2015.
Morales’s supporters have staged nationwide protests, blocking major roads, while President Arce has reshuffled military leadership in a bid to maintain order. On Sunday, a lawmaker close to Morales reported seeing video footage of a helicopter departing Cochabamba airport, speculating that the occupants might have been military or police personnel involved in the incident.