Morales says US would send him to GITMO, wonders why Bolivian opposition fears him running in elections so much

Ousted Bolivian President Evo Morales says he will not take part in the next presidential vote if the people are truly against it. He also revealed that the US ominously offered him ‘help’ fleeing Bolivia.

Morales, who resigned under pressure from top military officials after weeks of opposition protests, said that he does not mind if the fresh presidential elections are held without him on the ballot. “For the sake of democracy, if they don't want me to take part, I have no problem not taking part in new elections,” Morales told Reuters in an interview.

I just wonder why there is so much fear of Evo.

However, the veteran leftist said that he did not know another person who could represent the left-wing forces in a potential presidential poll.

Opposition senator Jeanine Anez, who declared herself “interim president” this week, has said that she would like to mend relations with Morales’s Movement for Socialism (MAS) majority party, but would not welcome him as a presidential candidate again.
Morales, who was accused of election fraud by opposition unhappy with the results of October presidential vote and was eventually forced into political asylum in Mexico, said he just wanted to return to his home country as soon as his resignation is approved by the legislature.

That might not be that easy for him, though, as Anez told journalists that although Morales is free to return, he would still face inquiry over alleged electoral fraud “in addition to many allegations of corruption.”

Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of the ousted president marched in support of him – and against the “interim” leader Anez – in La Paz. The demonstrations once again ended in fierce clashes between the demonstrators and the police that used tear gas.

Speaking from Mexico City, Morales said he had nothing to do with these developments and did not organize any such rallies. What he did reveal was a peculiar role the US sought to play in his fate.

“The United States had called the foreign minister (of Bolivia) to offer to send us a plane to take us where we wanted,” he said.

I was sure it would be Guantanamo.

This comes after his earlier remarks saying that he was forced out of his office in a coup and accusing the Organization of the American States (OAS) of acting “in the service of the North American empire.”

Supporters of former Bolivian President Evo Morales cover their mouths as an armored vehicle drives past them in La Paz, Bolivia, November 15, 2019 ©  Reuters / Marco Bello

His interview comes as the ‘interim’ Bolivian government plans to send away all Venezuelan diplomats for “violating diplomatic norms” and interfering into the nation’s internal affairs, after Caracas harshly condemned what it called a “coup d’état” in La Paz.

The newly appointed Bolivian Foreign Minister Karen Longaric criticized Mexico for the high-profile reception it gave to Morales, which she said was incompatible with his asylum status.

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