Evo Morales denied the deal with Luis Arco to change the Minister of Justice and once again called the president of Bolivia a “narco”

Former president and leader of Bolivia’s ruling party Evo Morales (2006-2019) denied this Sunday that he had agreed with Luis Arca’s government to change the minister of justice and assured that he would “never” make deals with the executive. , whom he described as a “drug dealer” and accused of corruption.

On the Kawsachun Coca radio show, Morales denied that Justice Minister Iván Lima’s resignation a few days ago was due to “a deal between Evo and Lucho (Arce)” as he stated, some media pointed out.

“I want the Bolivian people to know I have dignity“There is no agreement with Lucho with such a corrupt act and with the drug regime,” he said.

Morales stated that “There will never be an agreement with Luca” because, in addition, Arce’s “electoral” “is the amount that remains” due to the scant support given to the president by some polls mentioned by the former president.

He also confirmed his complaint that Arca’s intention is said to be to preserve the acronym of the government’s Movement for Socialism (MAS) so that the party will disappear.

He also accused the president of wanting to maintain “political power to protect family corruption but also of an institutional nature”, a complaint he has raised several times and which has caused estrangement between the two.

As for the new Minister of Justice, now ex-lawyer César Siles, Morales believed that “he is the same or worse than Iván Lima”.

Arce and Morales have been estranged since late 2021 over MAS and executive controla struggle that deepened due to the need to restore the national leadership of the ruling party, still in the hands of the former ruler.

After Morales led a 187-kilometer walk through the Altiplano, he asked the government to replace several ministers, including Lima, and to solve problems such as a lack of dollars and fuel, but also demanded a party congress that named him “candidate” to be recognized as unique ” for the 2025 general election.

The electoral body does not recognize this congress, or another held by a pro-government faction related to Luis Arce that elected a new MAS president, because neither met the requirements set out in its own statute.

The government assured that the march was the beginning of a plan to topple Arcawith the intention that the head of the Senate Andrónico Rodríguez, close to Morales, would assume the presidency of the country and thus allow the candidacy of the former ruler.

Amid the tensions on Thursday, Iván Lima, one of Morales’ most criticized ministers, resigned irrevocably from the justice portfolio and announced that he would open proceedings “against people who have harmed the Bolivian people”, without specifying against whom.

The ruling faction loyal to Morales had planned to block roads from this Monday to gain attention for their demands, but decided to suspend the measure.

(With information from EFE)