Denyingcuss Of Morales, Bolivian Government Calls The Convoy Of The Former President Shooting Anti-Drug Police Patrol

JAKARTA - The Bolivian government on Monday denied allegations of carrying out a directed attack on former President Evo Morales, whose car was fired on Sunday, claiming the former leader's convoy had opened fire on a special anti-drug police who were on patrol.

Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo said at a news conference the FELCN's drug anti-trading unit was conducting standard highway patrols when Morales' convoy opened fire on police and hit an officer.

Morales said in a radio interview on Sunday he had indeed returned fire at the police after they opened fire.

According to the government, Morales vehicles are suspected of transporting drugs.

The former president said the allegations that the authorities were carrying out drug anti-trade operations were false.

"If that's the case, why are your elite military and police teams shooting more than 18 times the vehicle I've been in?" he wrote on X.

Del Castillo added that Morales had ordered his vehicle to be burned after the incident, destroying all evidence before it could be collected.

"If he is really a victim of attempted murder, it will be in his interest to keep his vehicle intact", so investigators can search him for evidence, said del Castillo.

"Mr. Morales, no one believes the play you made," del Castillo told a news conference.

Earlier, Morales claimed the government attempted to kill him when a bullet hit his car on Sunday morning, marking a new chapter of tension in the Andean country between Morales and his former ally, President Luis Arce.

The escalating tensions between the current president and their former presidents and followers have threatened to spark a political crisis in Bolivia ahead of next year's general election.

Morales, who served three terms as president, resigned in 2019 after a disputed general election that plunged the country into chaos. Arce, his former minister of economy, was elected the following year.

Incumbent Arce is expected to run again in 2025. Meanwhile, Morales also said he wanted to be a candidate, who divided the hegemonic MAS party into opposing camps supporting the current president and former president.