Bolivia's Evo Morales Declared in Contempt, Arrest Warrant Issued After Skipping Trafficking Trial

A Bolivian judge declared former President Evo Morales in contempt and issued an arrest warrant after he failed to appear for the opening of his trial on charges of aggravated human trafficking. Prosecutors allege Morales had a relationship with a 15-year-old in 2016 while in office, with whom he reportedly had a daughter, and that the girl's parents consented in exchange for political and economic favors. The case, built on more than 170 pieces of evidence, was first filed in 2020, shelved under Morales's successor Luis Arce, and reopened in September 2024 amid the internal rupture of the Movement for Socialism. Morales has been in hiding in the Chapare region since 2024, where hundreds of supporters maintain a permanent watch to prevent his arrest. The judicial order comes as Morales's base launches a 'March for Life to Save Bolivia' toward La Paz to protest President Rodrigo Paz's reform agenda.