Arya News - Bolivian President Evo Morales has not been seen in public for more than four weeks amid an outstanding arrest warrant and the return of the DEA.
Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has not been seen in public for more than four weeks amid an outstanding arrest warrant and the announced return of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to the country.
Morales, Bolivia"s first Indigenous president and a central figure of the Bolivian left for 14 years between 2006 and 2019, has not appeared since Jan. 8 on his weekly Sunday radio program or at party or union events in the Tropics of Cochabamba, his historic stronghold.
He has also shown no significant activity on social media, a break from his usual pattern of public exposure, prompting widespread discussion in Bolivia.
The former president is facing an investigation for alleged aggravated human trafficking initiated in Tarija.
Prosecutors accuse him of having maintained a relationship during his third term in office with a minor, with whom he allegedly had a child in 2016. Morales has repeatedly rejected the allegations, describing them as political persecution.
After failing to appear at court hearings, he was declared a fugitive and an arrest warrant issued.
Since October, Morales had remained somewhere in the Chapare region, roughly the size of New Jersey, under the protection of coca growers" organizations that blocked roads and staged vigils to deter police entry.
Close allies say the former president is "safe" and resting for health reasons, without specifying his location.
The last official reference to his surroundings coincided with reports of helicopter overflights in the area.
Vice Minister of Social Defense Ernesto Justiniano said the flights were part of an anti-narcotics operation within a cooperation framework the government is seeking to reactivate with Washington, adding that "state surveillance should not be a threat to anyone."
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said Morales remains in the Chapare, which he described as a kind of "de facto house arrest" due to restrictions on his ability to move.
Along the same lines, Police Commander General Mirko Sokol said no records indicate the former president has legally left the country.
Morales" silence comes amid a profound political shift in Bolivia. After nearly two decades of left-wing dominance, power passed to a center-right government led by President Rodrigo Paz, who was elected in October.
The Movement for Socialism -- the party that brought Morales to power and dominated Bolivian politics for years -- suffered an electoral collapse and was reduced to marginal representation after receiving only single-digit support in the presidential election, according to official results.
The defeat marked the end of the political cycle led by Morales and significantly weakened his institutional influence, despite the former president retaining a base of union support concentrated in the Tropics of Cochabamba.
Paz, in office since November, reoriented foreign policy and announced restoration of relations with the United States, including the return of the DEA, which was expelled in 2008 during Morales" administration.
At the time, Morales accused the agency of conspiring against his government and defended a homegrown model for coca crop control.
The prospect of increased U.S. involvement revived fears among Chapare coca growers, who stepped up internal security amid suspicions of a possible capture operation.
Local leaders acknowledged they have not seen Morales since early January.
Morales" prolonged public absence has added tension to a political transition marked by the new government"s diplomatic shift and efforts to re-establish state control in regions historically dominated by coca growers" unions.
Former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga said the failure to enforce the arrest warrant against Morales "erodes legal certainty" and weakens state authority.
Meanwhile, Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said the Chapare has become an area where the former president "cannot move freely," reflecting the government"s difficulties in exercising effective control in the region amid the restoration of anti-drug cooperation with the United States.