Morales makes dramatic return to Bolivia after a year in exile

VILLAZON: Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales made a dramatic homecoming on Monday, greeted by crowds of cheering supporters as he crossed the border from Argentina where he had been living in exile since late last year.

Morales, seen off by Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who hugged him goodbye, made his return after his socialist MAS party swept back into power a year after he resigned amid violent protests and fled the country.

The leftist ex-president, an indigenous former coca farmer who led Bolivia for nearly 14 years, departed under a cloud in November last year after he ran for an unprecedented fourth term in an election marred by allegations of fraud.

Last month, after an 11-month caretaker government, his former economy minister Luis Arce won a landslide election, paving the way for Morales to return home. His arrival in Bolivia adds spice to an already tense political environment as the new socialist-controlled congress seeks to flex its muscles amid vehement opposition protests.

At the border town of Villazon, thousands of flag-waving supporters chanting ‘Evo’ welcomed Morales home.

But the role he will play remains unclear.

Arce, who was sworn in on Sunday, has said Morales will play no role in his government. But he remains the head of the MAS and is likely to continue to hold considerable sway in the party.

Jim Shultz, American head of the Democracy Center think tank and a long-time resident of Bolivia, said Arce’s election marked a return to “full democracy” after the “twin crises” of Morales ignoring a referendum result which opposed his running for a fourth team and the right-wing caretaker government of Jeanine Anez that ended on Sunday.

“The new MAS government has a clear mandate to govern,” he said. “Probably the most important thing that Evo can do is get out of the way and let them do that, without interference.”

Morales told the crowds in Villazon that last month’s election, in which Arce won 55 percent of the vote, was proof that his own victory in the disputed election had also been valid.

He repeated claims that he had been the victim of a “coup” backed by the United States because of his policies of nationalizing Bolivia’s natural resources and rejection of capitalism.