{"id":12883,"date":"2026-02-20T10:48:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12883"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:48:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:48:49","slug":"bolivias-ex-leader-morales-reappears-in-stronghold-after-7-week-absence-evo-morales-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12883","title":{"rendered":"Bolivia\u2019s ex-leader Morales reappears in stronghold after 7-week absence | Evo Morales News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The public appearance ends rumours that Morales fled the country following the abduction of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">2 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 20 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">20 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Evo Morales, Bolivia\u2019s former long-serving socialist leader, has reappeared in his political stronghold in the country\u2019s central Chapare region after almost seven weeks of unexplained absence.<\/p>\n<p>His public appearance on Thursday in the town of Chimore ends rife speculation he had fled the country in the wake of the United States abduction of his ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in January.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The media outlet of Morales\u2019 coca-growing union, Radio Kawsachun Coca, released footage of the former leader smiling in dark sunglasses as he arrived via tractor at a stadium to address his supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Morales endorsed candidates for next month\u2019s regional elections and pointedly accused the US under President Donald Trump of wanting \u201cto eliminate every left-wing party in Latin America\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Morales, Bolivia\u2019s first Indigenous president, serving from 2006 until his fraught 2019 ouster and subsequent self-exile, explained that he had come down with chikungunya, a mosquito-borne ailment with no treatment that causes fever and severe joint pain, and suffered complications that \u201ccaught me by surprise\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He dismissed rumours that he would try to flee the country, pledging to remain in Bolivia despite the threat of arrest under conservative President Rodrigo Paz, whose election last October ended nearly two decades of rule by Morales\u2019s Movement Toward Socialism party.<\/p>\n<p>The former president has spent the past year evading an arrest warrant on charges of human trafficking, which he has denied.<\/p>\n<p>In December, a month after Paz was inaugurated, Bolivian authorities arrested former President Luis Arce as part of a corruption investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The accusations centre on Arce\u2019s time as economy minister under Morales, when authorities say he oversaw the diversion of approximately $700m from a state fund created to channel natural gas revenues into development projects for Indigenous peoples and peasant farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Since taking office, Paz\u2019s revival of diplomatic ties with Washington and recent efforts to bring back the US Drug Enforcement Administration \u2013 some 17 years after Morales expelled American anti-drug agents from the country \u2013 have also rattled the coca-growing region that serves as Morales\u2019s bastion of support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The public appearance ends rumours that Morales fled the country following the abduction of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a02 mins info Published On 20 Feb 202620 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Evo Morales, Bolivia\u2019s former long-serving socialist leader, has reappeared in his political stronghold in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}