Evo Morales returns to Bolivia, ending year in exile

Former President Evo Morales has returned to Bolivia following an election that returned his socialist party to power a year after he fled the nation amid a wave of protests

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Former President Evo Morales returned to Bolivia on Monday following an election that returned his socialist party to power a year after he fled the nation amid a wave of protests.

Hundreds of supporters accompanied the nation's first Indigenous president as he crossed the border from Argentina, whose leftist leader came to bid him farewell.

“I am going to miss you,” President Alberto Fernández told Morales.

Morales still faces charges of treason lodged by prosecutors under the conservative interim government that accused him of stirring violent protests and spent much of the past 12 months attempting to reverse his policies.

But there is no active arrest warrant and the man who led Bolvia for almost 14 years apparently feels confident he is safe back home after a protege, former Economy Minister Luis Arce, was sworn in as president on Sunday after winning election with 55% of the national vote.

Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party also retained its majority in congress.

Arce has downplayed suggestions that Morales would play a major role in his administration, but the 61-year-old former leader remains the nation's most prominent figure. He has not spoken about his plans.

Once overwhelmingly popular, Morales saw his support erode over his refusal to accept limits on his ability to seek reelection and over allegations of increasing authoritarianism. Protests over alleged fraud roiled the nation when he claimed a narrow outright victory in the October 2019 presidential election, and he wound up resigning at the suggestion of military and police leaders.

He flew first to Mexico, and later moved to Argentina and was not permitted to take part in last month's election.

Human Rights Watch has said the terrorism charges against Morales appear to be politically motivated, though it also accused Morales’ administration of similar judicial abuses.

Officials in the former government alleged that Morales had urged followers surrounding cities during protests against his ouster to cut off food supplies for inhabitants.

Meanwhile, newly inaugurated President Arce held off on announcing his cabinet, which will have to confront the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a sharp economic contraction.