Buenos Aires Herald 
Evo Morales, an Indigenous socialist who served three terms as president of Bolivia, announced on Sunday that he will run in the country’s 2025 elections. His decision exposes a growing rift within the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement towards Socialism, or MAS) party between Morales’ supporters and President Luis Arce’s allies.
“Obligated by the government’s attacks, its plan to proscribe the MAS-IPSP and defenestrate us with political trials, even to physically eliminate us, we have decided to accept the demands of our activist base, and of so many brothers and sisters who go to gatherings all over the country, for [me] to be a candidate for the presidency of our dear Bolivia,” Morales posted Sunday on X (formerly Twitter).
Arce served as Morales’ economy minister for most of his presidency. He is considered the architect of many of the government’s economic policies that allowed the country to accumulate international reserves and usher in an era of economic stability. But disagreements over the direction of the government have irreparably damaged their once-close relationship.
Morales’ announcement is sure to have a mixed reception. The former farmer served as president between 2006 and November 2019. In elections the preceding October, as Morales ran for a controversial fourth term in office, accusations of fraud sparked nationwide and sometimes violent protests that culminated in a coup, as the police mutinied and General Williams Kaliman gave a televised address “suggesting” Morales step down.
Morales resigned and sought political asylum, first in Mexico, then in Argentina.
Born in a small highland community to a family of llama herders, Morales moved to the tropical region of Chapare and grew coca before rising to political prominence as a union leader for producers of the leaf. His election marked a turning point in a country that had historically been ruled by urban elites and systematically discriminated against Indigenous people in public life.
During his first years in office, he de facto nationalized private industries such as gas, implementing public policies to plow the proceeds into social programs that included cash transfers for schoolchildren. His government made progress towards combating racism against Indigenous people and improving their standing before the law. In 2009, Bolivia passed a new constitution recognizing 36 Indigenous tongues as official languages of the state.
Many of Bolivia’s rural, Indigenous and working-class communities revered Morales for these accomplishments, and he secured 61% of the vote in the 2014 election.
But after losing a 2016 referendum to eliminate term limits, Morales nonetheless ran again in 2019. At the time, his lawyers argued that preventing him from running would violate his human right to political participation.
Preliminary results initially indicated that the election would go to a second round, but when the figures were updated after a long pause, they began to show an outright victory for Morales. Observers with the Organization of American States, a US-backed organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., alleged fraud. Subsequent analyses indicated that the change in trend was likely the result of rural areas that heavily favored Morales reporting their results more slowly.
President Jeanine Áñez, a far-right senator, replaced Morales as president and held power for a year. Under her watch, the security forces massacred protesters in El Alto and Sacaba. She ultimately called elections in October 2020, which Arce won in a landslide. Bolivia’s next elections will be held in 2025.
