Bolivia opens investigation into ex-president Evo Morales over 2009 killings

Bolivia's acting attorney general, José Armando Urioste, announced on Monday, 12 October, a preliminary investigation into Evo Morales, the leftist former president. He is suspected of involvement in the murder and torture of European citizens in 2009. Morales was the first Indigenous person to lead Bolivia.

What happened in 2009

Seventeen years ago, police raided a hotel in the city of Santa Cruz and shot dead three men: Eduardo Rózsa Flores, a Bolivian-Croatian; Michael Dwyer, an Irishman; and Árpád Magyarosi, a Hungarian-Romanian. Two others survived: Mario Tadic, a Bolivian-Croatian citizen, and Elöd Tóásó of Hungary. Both later said they were tortured after their arrest.

The Morales government of the time claimed Rózsa Flores was leading efforts to promote a separatist movement, funded by the rightwing economic elite of Santa Cruz. While the raid was under way, Morales told the press during an official visit to Venezuela that he had ordered the foreigners detained, calling them "mercenaries".

The investigation

In a letter to the supreme court, Urioste said authorities were gathering evidence against Morales and his former vice-president Álvaro García Linera for the alleged crimes of murder, abuse, torture and unlawful detention. The inquiry follows a complaint by rightwing lawmakers Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio.

Family members and victims had earlier taken the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which concluded in 2021 that the government had violated human rights. Neither of the accused has commented on the latest inquiry.

Morales in hiding

Morales is currently hiding from two active arrest warrants. One concerns his alleged role in mass protests that paralysed the country for 53 days earlier this year. The other accuses him of trafficking a minor with whom he is said to have had a daughter. Morales denies the allegations.