Former President Evo Morales related to Bolivia He claimed he survived an assassination attempt after unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car on Sunday. Allegedly not injured attack This quickly became the latest flashpoint in the power struggle between the former leader and his successor, the current President Luis Arce.

Morales, 65, blamed President Arce’s government for the outbreak of violence and said it was part of a coordinated campaign by Bolivian officials to keep him out of politics.

Arce’s government has pointed the finger at Morales, claiming the leftist icon launched the attack to boost his own political fortunes ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Both parties denied the allegations against them.

The barrage of sharp accusations threatened to ignite Bolivia’s political firebox and plunge the cash-strapped Andean nation of 12 million into further turmoil.

Morales claimed the shots were fired while he was driving in Bolivia’s coca leaf-growing region of Chapare (the former president’s rural stronghold); Residents had blockaded the main east-west highway for the past two weeks in a show of defiance and solidarity. New legal threats against Morales have emerged.

Roadblocks and mass seizures have blocked transport in major cities, disrupted food and fuel supplies, and worsened the country’s ongoing economic crisis.

Morales, who served as Bolivia’s first Indigenous president from 2006 to 2019, described the gunshots that struck his car on Sunday as part of the Arce government’s plot to remove him from politics.

On Sunday, Morales emerged unscathed and appeared on his weekly radio show in his usual calm demeanor to explain what happened. He told the radio host that as he was leaving home to go to the radio station, hooded men shot at his car at least 14 times, wounding the driver.

“Arce will be the worst president in history,” Morales said. “Shooting a former president was the final straw.”

Deputy Security Minister Roberto Rios from Arce’s government insisted that police had not carried out any operations against the former president.

He said authorities were investigating a theory that Morales had staged a “possible self-attack.”

“Morales seeks conflict and violence on the roads for his political interests and impunity,” Rios told reporters.

Officials in Arce’s government did not respond to requests from The Associated Press for details of the disputed allegations.

Mobile phone footage showing Morales’ driver bleeding from the back of his head went viral, while his supporters called for mass demonstrations to show their anger. In the video taken from inside the car, Morales is seen holding a phone to his ear in the passenger seat as the vehicle leaves the road and a female voice shouts “Duck!” He can be seen shouting.

In the images, it can be seen that the windshield of the car was cracked by at least three bullets and the rear window was shattered. Morales can be heard saying, “Papacho was shot in the head,” referring to his driver.

“They’re shooting at us,” Morales continues over the phone. “They shot the car’s tire and it stopped on the road.”

Even before the shots were fired, the country’s political atmosphere was filled with personal attacks and, at times, violence.

in june There was a coup attempt by a rogue general who later accuses Arce of wanting him to stage the uprising to boost the president’s flagging popularity.

Last month, in a show of political power, Morales and his supporters embarked on an anticipated, days-long march from a rural village to the capital La Paz to pressure Arce to address severe fuel and dollar shortages.

Imported goods are scarce and prices they are rising. Drivers wait for hours to refuel at gas stations. The gap between official exchange rates and black market exchange rates is widening.

The march in September, which also called on authorities to allow Morales to run for office in next year’s elections despite his disqualification by the electoral commission, quickly turned into a street. conflicts with counter-protesters.

Earlier this month, Bolivian prosecutors opened an investigation. investigation Accusations that Morales was the father of a 15-year-old girl in 2016 classified the case as statutory rape. Morales, who rejected the renewed investigation attempt on the grounds that it was politically motivated, refused to testify in court.

The former president has gone into hiding in the Chapare region of central Bolivia since reports spread of a possible arrest warrant against him; Here loyal coca growers were on guard to protect him from arrest.

(AP)