Any death or injury is his responsibility
En Bolivia, el ex presidente Evo Morales desafió públicamente al gobierno de Rodrigo Paz a detenerlo o matarlo, negándose a huir ante las acusaciones de haber orquestado bloqueos que paralizan ciudades clave. Lo que se presenta como una crisis de orden público revela, en su fondo, una disputa más antigua: quién tiene el derecho de nombrar la soberanía, y a qué precio. Morales convirtió su vulnerabilidad legal en tribuna política, recordando que en América Latina la línea entre el disidente y el mártir suele trazarla el poder.
- Morales retó al gobierno a arrestarlo en su propia residencia, transformando la amenaza de detención en un acto de desafío simbólico ante sus seguidores.
- El gobierno de Paz aprobó una ley de poderes de emergencia y acusó a Morales de ordenar el cerco a instalaciones militares como parte de una conspiración narcoterrorista financiada desde el exterior.
- Los bloqueos en El Alto y La Paz cortan el suministro de ciudades enteras, mientras la tensión entre movilización social y represión estatal escala sin señales claras de negociación.
- Morales advirtió que cualquier muerte o herido sería responsabilidad directa del presidente Paz, elevando el costo político de una eventual acción de fuerza.
- El ex mandatario enmarcó el conflicto como resistencia antiimperialista, acusando a Washington y a Trump de usar la guerra contra las drogas para saquear los recursos naturales bolivianos.
El martes, Evo Morales tomó el micrófono de Radio Kawaschun Coca y lanzó un desafío sin rodeos al presidente Rodrigo Paz: que lo detengan o lo maten, pero que no esperen verlo huir. Desde su residencia, y pese a las acusaciones de haber organizado los bloqueos que paralizan El Alto y La Paz, el ex presidente se negó a ceder terreno.
El gobierno acababa de dotarse de poderes de emergencia mediante una nueva ley, y el ministro Marco Antonio Oviedo fue más lejos que Paz al afirmar que Morales había ordenado rodear instalaciones militares y policiales para que fueran tomadas por el narcoterrorismo. La lectura oficial era clara: no se trataba de una protesta legítima, sino de una conspiración financiada por el crimen organizado para desestabilizar el Estado.
Moreno respondió con una advertencia de peso político: si el gobierno actuaba contra él, la sangre correría por cuenta de Paz. Rechazó además cualquier pretensión negociadora del ejecutivo, comparando las condiciones actuales con las torturas de las dictaduras militares e invocando el Plan Cóndor como espejo histórico de lo que ocurre hoy.
Para Morales, los bloqueos no son sabotaje sino defensa: una respuesta a políticas de privatización que entregan los recursos naturales de Bolivia a corporaciones extranjeras bajo la tutela de Washington. Acusó al gobierno de Paz de actuar como instrumento de Trump y señaló que iniciativas como el Escudo de las Américas no son más que herramientas de extracción imperial disfrazadas de seguridad regional.
Lo que quedó en el aire tras su intervención fue la imagen de un hombre que eligió convertir su propio riesgo en declaración política: quien decida actuar contra él, dijo, sabrá lo que carga sobre sus hombros. El conflicto sigue sin resolverse, y las apuestas no dejan de subir.
Evo Morales stood his ground on Tuesday, daring the Bolivian government to arrest him. Speaking on Radio Kawaschun Coca, the former president issued a stark challenge to President Rodrigo Paz and his cabinet: "You won't catch me running. Grab me here or kill me here." He refused to leave his residence despite mounting accusations that he orchestrated the roadblocks and supply disruptions paralyzing cities like El Alto and La Paz.
The government had just passed a law granting Paz emergency powers to declare a state of exception. In response, Paz had vaguely fingered Morales as a saboteur working against negotiations to resolve the crisis, though he stopped short of naming him directly. Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo went further, claiming Morales had ordered his followers to encircle military and police installations so they could be seized by what he called narcoterrorism. Oviedo framed the entire conflict not as a legitimate social uprising but as a narco-financed conspiracy designed to destabilize the state.
Morales fired back with a warning that carried the weight of a threat. If the government moved against him, he said, the blood would be on Paz's hands. "If they have to attack, they will attack, and each one will know their responsibility," he said. "Any death or injury is his responsibility." The message was unmistakable: detaining him could trigger violence.
He rejected the government's claims of willingness to negotiate. "Who talks when they're torturing like in the military dictatorships?" Morales asked, invoking Plan Cóndor, the Cold War-era campaign of state repression across Latin America. He painted a picture of a country under occupation, its government a puppet of the United States and President Donald Trump. The blockades, he insisted, were not destabilization but defense—a protest against privatization policies that handed Bolivia's natural resources to foreign corporations and hollowed out the state.
Morales extended his critique beyond Bolivia's borders. He accused Washington of using the war on drugs as cover to plunder the country's wealth. The Shield of the Americas, a regional security initiative, was in his view just another instrument of imperial extraction. Every accusation against him, he argued, served a single purpose: to discredit him and his movement, to prevent Bolivia from pursuing projects that would guarantee dignity, political sovereignty, and economic independence.
What emerged from his radio appearance was a portrait of a man refusing to be silenced or displaced, even as the government tightened its grip. Morales had transformed his legal jeopardy into a platform, turning the threat of arrest into a statement about power, sovereignty, and who bears responsibility for what comes next. The confrontation remained unresolved, the stakes climbing.
Notable Quotes
You won't catch me running. Grab me here or kill me here.— Evo Morales, on Radio Kawaschun Coca
Who talks when they're torturing like in the military dictatorships?— Evo Morales, questioning the government's claim to dialogue
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would Morales dare the government to arrest him instead of going underground?
Because he's betting that his visibility and the international attention it brings are his best protection. Going into hiding makes him look guilty and gives the government a clearer hand.
But the government is calling the blockades narco-financed. Isn't that a serious accusation?
It is, but it's also convenient. If you can reframe a social movement as a criminal conspiracy, you can justify almost any response. Morales is saying that's exactly what's happening—that the real crime is the privatization, not the protest.
What does he mean by saying deaths will be Paz's responsibility?
He's warning that if the government uses force against him, the consequences will be on them. It's both a deterrent and a preemptive claim of innocence—he's saying he won't start the violence, but if it comes, the world will know who did.
Is there actually evidence he orchestrated the blockades?
The government claims it, but Morales denies it and frames the blockades as organic resistance to economic policies. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle—his supporters are mobilized, but whether he personally ordered specific actions is unclear.
Why invoke Plan Cóndor and the US?
Because it works. It connects what's happening now to a history of coups and repression in the region, and it appeals to a base that remembers those times. It also shifts the conversation from whether he's guilty to whether the system itself is legitimate.