Despite all the bad blood between Bolivia’s President Luis Arce and former president Evo Morales (2006-2019), Morales still exerts considerable influence over the current government. That was made clear on 26 September when the justice minister, Iván Lima, resigned following an ultimatum issued by Morales. Although Morales and Lima have both claimed that the resignation was unrelated to Morales’ demands, the former president subsequently announced that plans for nationwide protests by his supporters had been “suspended” pending further discussions with allies.
Morales, whose supporters streamed into La Paz on 23 September after completing a march from Oruro department, had warned President Arce that he would need to replace “corrupt” cabinet ministers if he “wants to continue governing” [WR-23-38]. He later clarified that he was referring to Lima, Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo, and the minister for the presidency, María Nela Prada. Those three ministers have been the most vocal critics of Morales from within the Arce administration, accusing him of laying the groundwork for a coup d’état and attempting to intimidate judges to allow him to compete in next year’s election despite presidential term limits.
Three days after Morales issued his ultimatum, Lima announced his departure from the government. His resignation letter to Arce said only that “the time has come” to step aside and noted that his tenure as justice minister had been an “intense time” in which the government had “faced severe difficulties and overcome great hurdles”. During an emotional speech later that day at the inauguration ceremony of his successor, César Siles, who since September 2023 had served as Bolivia’s prosecutor general, Lima alluded to the growing challenge posed by Morales.
Lima warned that “a very hard year is coming” for the government and denied Morales’ unproven allegations of corruption, criminality, and addiction at the heart of the Arce administration. “I’m convinced that none of my colleagues, none of the 17 cabinet ministers, is corrupt, a drug trafficker, a drug addict, or anything of the sort,” he said. Morales has repeatedly accused Del Castillo, in particular, of working on behalf of drug trafficking organisations; their animosity dates back to the January 2022 arrest on drug trafficking charges of Maximilano Dávila, who headed Bolivia’s counter-narcotics agency (FELCN), in the final months of the Morales administration. Morales claims that Dávila’s arrest was an attempt to discredit his former government.
Lima’s resignation appeared to sate Morales’ hunger for ministerial resignations. Later that day, Morales announced the suspension of planned protests which would have seen highways blocked around Bolivia if Arce did not replace the three ministers. Morales said that, although the country remains in a “state of emergency”, his faction of the ruling left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) would wait until a planned congress on 12 October before it made any further decision on the roadblocks. Meanwhile, he and Lima have unconvincingly claimed that the timing of the justice minister’s resignation was coincidental. Lima said on 28 September that “Evo Morales’ request has nothing to do with my departure – that needs to be discarded as a possibility”. Morales echoed this two days later, saying that there had been no “agreement” between himself and Arce regarding Lima’s resignation.
‘National disaster’ declared due to wildfires
President Arce declared a state of national disaster on 30 September in response to devastating wildfires which have burned over 7m hectares of land this year, mostly in the eastern department of Santa Cruz. Arce’s decree loosened budget restrictions to enable more resources to be allocated to the fire response and instructed the foreign ministry to seek international assistance in tackling the fires. The government has been accused by departmental authorities in Santa Cruz, an opposition stronghold, of dithering in its response to the crisis.
