MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Evo's refugee status revoked in Argentina

Morales landed in Argentina once Alberto Fernández was sworn in

The Argentine Government of Javier Milei announced Wednesday that it was terminating former Bolivian President Evo Morales' refugee status, according to a posting by Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni on X: “Juan Evo Morales Ayma's refugee status has been terminated,” Adorni wrote in his @madorni account.

Morales stayed in exile in Argentina between December 2019 and November 2020 during the interim Government of Jeanine Áñez. He had been granted refugee status under former President Alberto Fernández, a former ally of the Socialist Indigenous leader.

During his stay in Argentina, Morales was campaign manager for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in the 2020 elections for which Luis Arce Catacora's candidacy was promoted.

In December 2019, Morales stepped down as President of Bolivia after a revolt following the controversial Oct. 20 elections in which he was reelected despite the Constitution banning him from another back-to-back term. He sought asylum in Mexico and then traveled to Cuba before arriving in Argentina together with Vice President Álvaro García Linera and other Bolivian leaders.

Argentina's Justice Ministry also underlined Wednesday that Morales was an “attempted dictator” welcomed ”with unjustified privileges, despite the serious accusations against him including corruption, electoral fraud, and political persecution of opponents.”

“This Government will in no way use the resources of the Argentine people to protect criminals, terrorists or authoritarians,” Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona wrote on X.

Morales is currently in Bolivia staging a harsh campaign against his former Economy Minister Arce.