Bolivia says Morales ‘staged’ assassination try
Evo Morales —REUTERS
LA PAZ—Bolivia’s government on Monday accused former president Evo Morales of staging an attempt on his own life, saying that the shots fired at his car Sunday came after he tried to run a police checkpoint.
Interior minister Eduardo del Castillo said Morales failed to stop at a police antidrug checkpoint prompting gunfire, damaging the vehicle’s windshield and wounding the former president’s driver.
Morales had said in a radio interview on Sunday that he had indeed shot back at police after they opened fire. Morales’ vehicles were suspected of transporting drugs, according to the government.
Del Castillo added that Morales had instructed his vehicles to be burned after the run-in, destroying any evidence before it could be collected.
