Former Bolivian President Evo Morales Denounces Alleged CIA Plot Amid Bolivia Unrest

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales escalated his rhetoric against the United States this week, accusing the CIA and Bolivian security forces of preparing an operation to "kidnap" him amid mounting unrest and legal pressure in Bolivia.

Morales, speaking through allied media outlets and to supporters in the Chapare coca-growing region, claimed there was an active international effort to remove him from the political stage.

"The U.S. armed forces and Bolivian police are preparing a joint operation to kidnap Evo Morales," Morales allies said in statements circulated online and amplified by pro-Morales media.

The former president has also framed the case against him as political persecution orchestrated by elites aligned with Washington.

"The government is carrying out against me a brutal judicial and media persecution with fabricated charges to annihilate me morally and physically," Morales wrote recently on X. after Bolivian courts renewed an arrest warrant against him.

In a TV interview, Morales accussed the CIA to try to detain him with "three helicopters." "The CIA piloted a helicopter as part of the operation to detain me."

Morales has repeatedly tied his situation to what he describes as growing U.S. intervention in Latin America under President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, after U.S. actions involving Venezuela triggered fears among leftist leaders in the region, Morales denounced what he called "brutal imperial aggression."

In another speech to supporters after reappearing publicly in February following weeks out of sight, Morales accused Washington of trying to wipe out left-wing movements across the hemisphere.

"They want to eliminate every left-wing party in Latin America," Morales said while criticizing Trump administration efforts to expand U.S. influence in the region.

The United States government has not publicly responded to Morales' latest kidnapping allegations. Washington has consistently denied accusations of covert operations against the former Bolivian leader.

The broader U.S. position on Bolivia has instead focused on security cooperation, anti-narcotics operations and democratic institutions. American officials have supported Bolivia's renewed cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after relations collapsed during Morales' presidency, when he expelled the DEA and U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg in 2008.

At the time, Morales accused Goldberg and Washington of "conspiring against democracy" and encouraging unrest inside Bolivia.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. officials have expressed concern over Bolivia's growing instability and backed the "stability" of President Rodrigo Paz's government as protests linked to Morales intensified in La Paz.

The Trump administration has also strongly supported Bolivia's renewed security cooperation with Washington. In February, Bolivia restored operational ties with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after 17 years, reversing one of Morales' most symbolic anti-U.S. moves during his presidency. Reuters quoted Bolivian Interior Minister Marco Oviedo confirming: "The DEA is in Bolivia."

Morales currently faces serious criminal accusations in Bolivia tied to alleged trafficking of a minor during his presidency. Bolivian prosecutors accuse him of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. Morales denies the allegations and insists the charges are politically motivated.

The renewed tensions come as Bolivia faces protests, economic anxiety and a bitter political divide between Morales loyalists and the country's conservative government. Supporters of the former president have threatened nationwide upheaval if authorities attempt to arrest him.

"They think that by arresting Evo Morales, they will succeed in quelling and demobilising the movement. They are very much mistaken," Morales supporter Dieter Mendoza said on Kawsachun Coca radio. "If they touch Evo Morales, this will cause an upheaval. There will be an insurgency across Bolivia."