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Bolivia’s ex-president on hunger strike, accuses govt of blocking dialogue

With more than 200 soldiers held hostage and damages from roadblocks reaching $2.1 billion, Morales demands negotiations to address the crisis.

AFP

Bolivia's former President Evo Morales gestures during an interview with AFP in the village of Lauca Ñ, Cochabamba department, Bolivia, where he is on hunger strike, on November 3, 2024

Former president Evo Morales has accused Bolivia's government of ignoring his request for dialogue over protests by his supporters in which 200 soldiers have been taken hostage.

Morales made the accusation on his second day of a hunger strike, which he launched demanding the government negotiate with him.

"I asked for immediate dialogue... and the government's response was to arrest... comrades and take them to La Paz," he said in a brief interview with AFP.

Morales's supporters began blocking roads starting last month to prevent his arrest on what the ex-leader calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.

After 21 days of blockades, losses are estimated at $2.1 billion in various sectors, according to the Ministry of Productive Development.

On Friday, Morales supporters took more than 200 military personnel hostage in the central Chapare province, according to the foreign ministry.

Supporters of Bolivia's ex-leader Morales detain 200 soldiers

'Morales is under investigation'

The defence ministry said it "strongly condemn(ed) the armed and violent takeover of military units," without giving any further details on the fate of the hostages.

Separately, police arrested 66 people, adding to the dozens who have been apprehended since the roadblocks began on October 14.

Close presidential aide Maria Nela Prada said on Saturday that the state ombudsman's office was managing a dialogue.

The government agrees to talk but only "to address issues that concern the executive branch and not other state bodies," she said.

Morales, 65, was in office from 2006 to 2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.

Despite being barred from running again, Morales wants to challenge President Luis Arce, his former ally, for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in elections next August.

Prosecutors have announced Morales is under investigation on suspicion of statutory rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.

In 2016, the girl gave birth to a daughter, whom Morales is accused of fathering.

Morales, who has holed up in the rural Chapare region, has called the accusations a lie.