‘I’ll be back’: Ousted leader Morales says his party will win elections, plans return to Bolivia

A defiant Evo Morales has said he’ll return to Bolivia by next Christmas, and predicted victory for his Movement for Socialism party in upcoming elections. Morales is in exile after a “coup” and has been accused of “terrorism.”

“For reasons of security I can’t go into detail about the plan we have for returning to Bolivia. But one has to go back to one’s country,” Morales told Reuters in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Doing it somewhat Terminator style, Morales promised: “I’ll be back.”

His journey from the Presidential Palace in La Paz to exile in Argentina has been a rocky one. One of Latin America’s last remaining leftist leaders, Morales resigned from the presidency and went into hiding in November, under pressure from his once-loyal military leaders. Morales had been accused of election fraud by the opposition, yet his offer of fresh elections did not placate his opponents.

From there, he traveled first to Mexico, and then to Argentina, where newly elected President Alberto Fernandez granted him political asylum. Bolivia’s interim government, headed by right-wing Senator Jeanine Anez, issued an arrest warrant for Morales last week, claiming that his calls for protest amounted to “sedition and terrorism,” and promising to jail the exiled socialist “for the rest of his life.”

Despite Morales’ absence, his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party has been gearing up to contest fresh elections next year. Though he has ruled out running as a candidate himself, the party has chosen Morales to organize its campaign from abroad. Members of the organization will gather in Buenos Aires on Sunday to start choosing their candidates. 

Morales told reporters he is confident the party will win the elections, which are expected to be held within the first 120 days of next year.

Speaking about the “coup” against him, Morales said his only regret was being taken by surprise. “I’m very sorry that neither the intelligence of the Bolivian police nor the armed forces warned us that there was a coup on the way,” he said.

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