Morales’ absence from public view has become a fast-moving story in Bolivia, with supporters and opponents using his lack of appearances to argue competing theories about where he is and what the pause means for the country’s political direction. The former socialist leader, who has long hosted a political radio program and posts regularly to social media, missed a ceremony on Monday he typically attends and did not appear for a fourth straight week on his radio show, according to the Associated Press.
The gaps have also surfaced in Morales’ outreach from his political stronghold in the Chapare region, where he has skipped scheduled meetings with members of his coca-leaf growing union since early January and where his daily social media posting has largely dried up. The absence comes against a backdrop in which Morales has spent about a year evading an arrest warrant on charges of human trafficking, but has continued other forms of political activity, including rally appearances and interviews, from the Chapare.
Morales’ close associates have offered one explanation publicly, while refusing others. Dieter Mendoza, vice president of a farmers body known as the Six Federations that runs the coca-leaf trade in the tropics, told supporters, “We have asked our brother Evo Morales to rest completely,” and declined to add details. Supporters close to Morales have said he has been recovering from dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral illness whose symptoms typically last no longer than a week, even as his disappearances have stretched for nearly a month.
Government and security officials have been cryptic as the rumors have accelerated. Police Commander Gen. General Mirko Sokol said, “The former president has not left Bolivia,” “at least not through any official channels,” and WhatsApp messages and calls to Morales went unanswered Monday. At the same time, rivals used the uncertainty to revive resentful memories of 2019, when Morales resigned after pressure from the military amid protests around his disputed bid for an unconstitutional third term.
For critics, Morales’ silence also feeds into complaints about legal security and how the new administration handles the warrant. Right-wing lawmaker Edgar Zegarra declared, “Evo Morales is in Mexico,” while offering no evidence, and said Morales has not appeared even at political events and that the government cannot justify the absence. Quiroga, a right-wing contender in the last election who lost in the runoff to the more centrist Rodrigo Paz, said Morales “can’t make a mockery of the state” and called it incompatible with rule of law, saying, “The country cannot speak of legal security when an arrest warrant is not executed.”
The uncertainty is unfolding as Bolivia’s politics and its relationship with the United States undergo visible shifts. Paz, elected in October, has moved to reverse what opponents describe as Morales-era hostility toward Washington, including scrapping visa requirements for American tourists and holding talks with U.S. officials on securing loans to help rescue Bolivia’s economy. Paz has also paved the way for the return of the Drug Enforcement Administration to Bolivia, a development that has rattled coca farmers in the Chapare because the coca plant is the raw material for cocaine and remains central to cultural and spiritual life.
In the Chapare, where Morales’ supporters say they haven’t seen him since Jan. 8, panic grew after a rare overflight by a Super Puma helicopter. Deputy Social Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano later described the mission as a data-collection effort conducted with foreign agencies, including the DEA, while saying it had nothing to do with Morales. “State surveillance should not be a threat to anyone,” Justiniano said.
As the speculation spread, loyalists protecting Morales from arrest have also warned that they would resist security forces with “guerrilla tactics,” the report said, even as some close allies have kept the focus on his health and whereabouts. Leonardo Loza, a former senator and close friend of Morales, said, “Our brother president is doing very well,” adding, “He is in a corner of our greater homeland,” while the broader story of whether Morales has moved—rather than simply withdrawn—has continued to unsettle both supporters and opponents.